Jesuit Father Bert Mead

Jesuit Father Bert Mead, a teacher and pastor, died Jan. 20 in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. He was 91 years old, a Jesuit for 71 years and a priest for 58 years. 

Father Mead was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on Feb. 15, 1929, to Joseph W. and Isa Monica Sedding Mead. He was preceded in death by his brother Joseph, and his three sisters, Eugene Randolph, Helen Mead and Martha Mead. He is survived by two nieces, Joan Randolph and Monica Shiner.

He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau in 1949, pronounced first vows two years later and was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1962 in St. Joseph’s Chapel at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He pronounced final vows on Aug. 15, 1966, at Loyola University in Chicago.

Father Mead taught philosophy at Spring Hill from 1964-65. After earning his doctorate in psychology, he taught that subject at Spring Hill and at Loyola University New Orleans. From 1973-78, he worked for Catholic Social Services and for the tribunal of the Diocese of Lafayette and then taught at Jesuit High of Tampa, Florida, 1978-79. 

After pastoral work in Fairbanks, Alaska, and teaching at the Corpus Christi Minor Seminary in Texas and at St. Augustine Seminary in Bungoma, Kenya, he served in parishes in Louisiana and Florida. In 2004, he retired to Ignatius Residence in New Orleans.

Father Mead’s memorial Mass was celebrated on Jan. 25 in the Domestic Chapel of St. Charles College, with only the Jesuit Community in attendance because of the coronavirus restrictions. The graveside service and interment were in the St. Charles College cemetery.