On May 26th, the Hawthorn community gathered together in an all-school Mass in memory of Mr. Peter Rebello, a man of inestimable warmth, importance, and influence for our school since our very beginning over 35 years ago.
Peter’s grandchildren, Anna ’25, Katrina ’27, Monica ’28 and Cecilia ’30 did the readings and prayers of the faithful at the Mass. Many family, friends and alumni attended the Mass in addition to our entire student body.
Many Hawthorn staff and students attended Peter’s funeral Mass on May 20 at St. Clement’s Catholic Church in Toronto; the church was overflowing with people whose lives had been touched by Peter.
Fr. Eric Nicolai, Hawthorn’s school chaplain, told us a story of how apostolic Peter was. He never wasted a single opportunity to bring people closer to God. For a period of time, Fr. Eric was not able to drive so he took public transit to Hawthorn three times a week to celebrate Mass and be available for confessions. When Peter found out, he told Fr. Eric that he would find different Hawthorn dads to drive Fr. Eric to the school. Fr. Eric insisted that he was fine taking the TTC but Peter said it would be an opportunity for dads to get closer to God if they had the opportunity to talk to Fr. Eric in the car, so that plan was arranged. In this small anecdote, Peter’s friendship, support, and apostleship shine out as a model of how all of us can try to go out of our way to lead lives of love and meaning. Thank you to Fr. Eric for celebrating this special Mass at Hawthorn School in memory of our beloved Peter Rebello. Peter will be deeply missed and forever cherished.