A funeral Mass for Father Frederick G. McLeod, SJ, was celebrated March 15 in the Loyola Room of Jesuit Hall. Father McLeod died March 7 in St. Louis. He was 90 years old, a Jesuit for 72 years and a priest for almost 60 years.
Fred McLeod was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on Feb. 22, 1932, the oldest and last surviving of six siblings, to whom he remained close throughout his life. He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter B. and Evelyn McGahey McLeod, as well as by his brothers, William, Robert, and Richard, and his sisters Marjorie Costello and Carol Stanley.
He entered the New England Province of the Society of Jesus at Shadowbrook in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 30, 1949, and pronounced first vows there on July 31, 1951. He was ordained to the priesthood at Weston College in Weston, Massachusetts, on June 16, 1962, and pronounced final vows on Aug. 15, 1966, at Farm Street in London.
Father McLeod began his active ministry at Baghdad College in Iraq, where he served from 1956-59. He returned to Baghdad as a young priest but was soon forced out along with the other foreign-born Jesuits. He then served as the rector of the Jesuit Collegian Community in Boston from its beginning to its end, 1969-73.
In 1973, Father McLeod was assigned to Saint Louis University as a professor of theological studies. He continued in this role until 2006. From 2006 until his death, he wrote about theology.
Father McLeod enjoyed teaching, but he relished writing even more. He eagerly anticipated his occasional sabbaticals, both for the time and space they provided him for writing, and for the opportunities they gave him to reconnect with his New England roots and his family. Even as his health weakened, he continued to write.
His quiet wisdom, patience and good humor were gifts he freely gave to his community, family and friends until the very end.
Father McLeod earned a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree in philosophy and classics from Boston College. He earned his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 1973.
Burial will be at Campion Center in Weston, Massachusetts, at a later date.
