Fr. Hanford E. Weckbach, S.J. (1909 - 2005)
Former Math and Physics teacher at Loyola Marymount University
Father Hanford Edward Weckbach, S.J.. was born in Curtis, Nebraska on July 18, 1909. He attended Regis High School in Denver CO and in 1932 graduated from Stanford University with a degree in physics. He entered the Society of Jesus in August 1932 and was ordained a priest in June 1943.
Most of his ministry has been in teaching math and physics at the then-Loyola University (Los Angeles) starting in 1938 and the later-Loyola Marymount University until his retirement from full-time teaching in1989.
Fr. Weckbach loved the outdoors. No one else in the Jesuit Community could match his hiking and biking well into his 70s, frequently biking some 30 miles at a stretch and walking to Hermosa Beach from the LMU campus. For many years he was the summer chaplain for the Christian Brothers at their Huntington Lake summer location in the Sierra. All his life he looked forward to an annual excursion through the hills and valleys of beloved California. And he remained a willing driver for anyone with a doctor’s appointment or other need until the last day of his long and gracious life.
Yet more remarkable, he became an adept internet aficionado through his 80s and 90s.
Surely he was a role model for a life well and fully lived in the service of others with a generosity and kindliness that touched many hearts. He will be sorely missed by his Jesuit brethren. May God bless him with the lasting serenity his life exuded for others.
The Mass of Resurrection for Fr. Weckbach took place at 7:30P on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 in Sacred Heart Chapel on the Loyola Marymount Campus. The committal service was held at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara CA.