The Rev. Mychal Judge, 68, chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, was a well-known Franciscan friar whose busy schedule sometimes included a White House ceremony one day and ministering to impoverished AIDS patients the next.

The child of Irish immigrants who ran a rooming house, Judge became a shoeshine boy on the streets of Manhattan after his father died when he was 6.

One of his stops was St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on West 31st Street. "I don't know why, but I always liked going to church,” he told a Newsday interviewer in 1991.

"I just felt good being there.” A priest at St. Francis, Father Teddy became a mentor. "Watching him, I realized that I didn't care for material things all that much,” Judge said.

He entered the Franciscan seminary at 14, beginning a religious career that involved him in efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland, conducting masses for players at Yankee Stadium and White House visits during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy. He lived in a small monastery room, slept on a cheap sofa bed and wore the baggy brown medieval habit of a Franciscan monk.

He was particularly known for his work with AIDS patients. "His death consecrated what his life had built,” said Brother Denis Clark of St. Francis, who saw Judge for the last time at morning prayers yesterday. "He was always dedicated to others and available to anyone who needed him.”

Last year, on a beach in Shirley, Judge spoke to mourners at a memorial service for victims of the TWA Flight 800 crash, telling the crowd that their spirits lived on. "Have your memories and hold tight to your tears,” he said. "Open your hearts, and let their spirit and life keep you going.”-- Newsday

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Sept. 16, 2001
Rev. Mychal Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain who died ministering at the scene of Tuesday's terrorist attacks and whose funeral was Saturday, was well-known for his compassionate care for families of air crash victims.

In 1996 the Franciscan priest became the personal pastor to many families of victims of the TWA Flight 800 disaster off Long Island, regardless of their religious affiliation. Judge spent weeks at a Ramada hotel that became the base of operations for the families, and he remained involved in some of their lives until his death at the World Trade Center.

On Tuesday, Judge was killed while administering last rites to a badly injured firefighter. After taking off his helmet to pray, he was hit by falling debris.

A Times reporter researching an article on support services for families of air crash victims interviewed Judge last year, and he spoke of his efforts to be a healing presence for people whose lives had been torn apart.

"In seminary, you can get all the theology and Scripture in the world, and you land in your first parish, and you find out it's you--the personality and the gifts that God gave you," said Judge. A thin man with gray hair and an easy smile, he was 68 when he died.

At the Fire Department, where he was known as Father Mike, Judge's parish knew no bounds. He ministered to firefighters and police, but also to crime victims, street youths and all manner of people who found themselves in crisis. He often took his meals at a firehouse in midtown Manhattan.

"The TWA families considered him a saint," said Hans Ephraimson-Abt, a New Jersey businessman and longtime advocate for families of air crash victims.

"He was absolutely hands-on. Religion didn't make any difference for him--he was the same toward everyone, regardless of their beliefs."

Judge helped to organize services on the beach for the Flight 800 families.

A news photograph of him at last year's service, wearing his brown robe and gazing out to sea, was distributed around the country.

"The water becomes sacred to them," he said of the families.

Judge's funeral drew hundreds of mourners to St. Francis of Assisi Church in midtown Manhattan, including former President Clinton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea.

Only a few dozen firefighters were able to attend. Many are still digging through the pile of rubble that used to be the World Trade Center, where scores of their own lie buried.

-- By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar (The Los Angeles Times)

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