Joseph McAlister

June 14, 1942 – April 15, 2024

Brother Joseph McAlister died unexpectedly at Champagnat Hall Residence in the Bronx, New York on Monday, April 15, 2024.  He was 81 years old and in his 63^rd year of Marist religious life.

Brother Joe was born on June 14, 1942 in the Bronx.  He was the son of the late John and Margaret Carigy McAlister.  He graduated from Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx in 1960 and entered the Marist Brothers at St. Joseph Novitiate in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts.  He received the habit on August 15, 1961 and made first profession of vows on August 15, 1962.  He then went to the Marist Brothers Scholasticate at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York and received a BA in History.

He began his teaching career at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts (1965-1966) and then he taught at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, NY (1966-1970).  From 1970 to 1974 he served as Director of the Marist Retreat House in Esopus, New York.  While based in Queens, NY, he did Marist Evangelization and Vocation work (1974-1976).  He then went to Roselle Catholic High School, Roselle, New Jersey, where he was a teacher and counselor (1976-1981).  During this time, he completed an MA in Counseling from Seton Hall University and then an MA in Religious Education from Mundelein College.

In 1981 he did a Second Novitiate renewal program in Fribourg, Switzerland.  Upon returning to the States he was a teacher and counselor at Our Lady of Good Council High School in Newark, New Jersey (1982-1991).  He was Director of the St. Bridget AIDS Network in Newark, New Jersey (1991-2004) and then worked as a Guidance Counselor at Marist High School in Bayonne, New Jersey (2005-2008).

In 2008, Brother Joe moved to the Marist Brothers Retirement Community at Champagnat Hall in the Bronx where he served in a number of capacities as an assistant.  He was living there at the time of his death.

Oh, what consolation we have, when about to appear before God, to remember that we have lived in the favor of Mary, and in her own Society. – St. Marcellin Champagnat