Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus laid to rest in mountain foothills

CatholicAnchor.org
Shocking some while bringing a knowing smile to others, late Anchorage Archbishop Francis Hurley was laid to rest in a remote Catholic cemetery, two hours drive south of Anchorage.

After four days of public prayers and a televised funeral Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral, Archbishop Hurley’s funeral arrangements came to a quiet end on Jan. 23. The humble gravesite for the iconic Alaskan churchman was chosen himself, according to his long-time personal secretary Joann White.

White said the idea of being buried at St. John Neumann Mission in Cooper Landing was first expressed several years ago at a regular Saturday morning coffee gathering with friends. Archbishop Hurley said he could see being buried in one of four possible locations: Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, Angelus Memorial Park Cemetery in Anchorage, Sacred Heart Cemetery in Wasilla or the little mission cemetery in Cooper Landing.

In the last days before his death, friends and family asked him to choose one. He firmly maintained that Cooper Landing was the spot, a decision that didn’t surprise the locals.

“We’re note surprised at all — he loved it down here,” said long-time Cooper Landing resident Mayme Ohnemus. “His heart is here.”

Parishioner Bill Basinki agreed. “I think it is like the sweet spot of the whole diocese. We’re in the mountains and it’s a cherished location. It’s not the city — but it’s what Alaska represents.”

As recently as last summer Archbishop Hurley wanted to visit Cooper Landing again.

“He asked me to drive him there,” White said. “For a number of reasons — mostly his deteriorating health — that never came about.”

Archbishop Hurley’s fondness for the mission — some 100 road miles from Anchorage — was rooted in the beauty of the place and his deep friendships. He also had a fondness for the little shrine which he established a year before retiring in 2001. The shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin as “Our Caring Mother of the Handicapped.” A young parishioner at the mission who was ill and dependent on a wheelchair inspired it. In 2000 Archbishop Hurley established the shrine is an official pilgrimage site in the Anchorage Archdiocese.

In addition to the cemetery, the mission contains an outdoor stations of the cross situated along a path leading to the peak of a mountain foothill. At the top, a six-foot-tall white cross overlooks a sweeping view of the Kenai River valley.

“Archbishop used to fly down to Cooper Landing occasionally,” White recalled, and he became good friends with Dodie and Mark Wilson, the owners of Hamilton’s Place, a store, restaurant, gas station, garage and cabin rental on the highway that runs through Cooper Landing.

In the early 1980s the Wilsons told Archbishop Hurley of their vision to have a chapel there. It opened in 1984.

On Jan. 23 Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz and Bishop Michael Warfel were on hand for the final Mass and burial. Also there were Father Tom Lilly, Father Steven Moore, Father Dick Tero and Deacon Felix Maguire. Another 70 mourners filled the log-cabin styled mission.

Bishop Warfel, who was ordained deacon, priest and then bishop of Juneau all by the apostolic hand of Archbishop Hurley, gave the homily.

Bishop Warfel now leads the Diocese of Great Falls/Billings, Mont.

“Life as we know it is a passing reality,” Bishop Warfel said, glancing at the casket of a man he knew for 40 years. “It is important to live faith and truth, and with a deep response to the invitation to the life of grace.”

“We don’t get out of this life without death,” he added.

Standing next to a large knotted willow-tree crucifix he continued.

“Christ will take us beyond the grave to life eternal,” Bishop Warfel affirmed. “Archbishop knew this well.”

He noted that Archbishop Hurley “was a man who prayed and prayed well … because he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.”

He was also a risk taker, Bishop Warfel said, observing the archbishop’s willingness to think far outside the box in order to help the homeless, found a mission in Siberia or find ways to be with people in his far-flung 138,000 square mile archdiocese.

“He didn’t adhere to the safe path,” Bishop Warfel said, and that quality “was rooted in his faith.”

Following Mass, Archbishop Hurley’s relatives carried his casket about 50 yards to a mossy hillside gravesite.

Holy water was sprinkled on the casket, mixing with the falling snow, and then the Archbishop Hurley’s body was laid to rest, just a few feet behind the stained glass shrine he dedicated 15 years before.

Click here to view a photo gallery from this event.