Deceased: 2001-06-09
Diocese: DENVER
CSM Graduation Year: 1962
By Roxanne King
Eulogized by one of his closest friends as “a priest’s priest, a gentleman’s gentleman,” beloved Msgr. Robert Greenslade died June 9, 2001. He was 75.
Pastor of Holy Family Parish in northwest Denver 15 years, he also served as canonical pastor of St. Mary Magdelene Church for the last six. Msgr. Greenslade was the consummate parish priest. It seemed he had been a priest “forever,” his cousin Margaret Garcia said.
“As a child, he would have his `Masses’ and his theater,” she said. “In my mind he was always a priest and always an artist.”
Born in Highland Park, Ill., Dec. 19, 1925, to Robert John Greenslade and Ruth Annette Kress, he attended Catholic grade school in the town of his birthplace before entering Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and then St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelain.
After a year at St. Mary, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver. He was ordained May 29, 1954.
“He was somewhat sickly,” Garcia recalled about the monsignor’s early seminary days. “They thought if he came here (to Colorado) it would be better for him.”
And it worked. The rosy-cheeked priest always seemed to be in robust health.
After his first assignment as assistant pastor at St. Mary in Colorado Springs, he entered the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, where he earned a graduate degree. Returning to Colorado in 1962, he served as chaplain at Loretto Heights College for five years, followed by a year as chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital. He then served as associate pastor at All Souls Parish in Englewood for a year, followed by a year as pastor at St. Mary’s in Brush and two years as pastor at St. John’s in Stoneham.
In 1972 he was sent to Greeley, where he served as pastor of St. Mary’s for a dozen years. He then served as pastor at St. Michael in Craig for two years.
It was during his time in Greeley that he began a friendship with a young seminarian that would last until his death. Now head of the tribunal, Father James Moreno, J.C.D., recalled his first meeting with Msgr. Greenslade during memorial services at Holy Family, June 12, and at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, June 13.
“Today, I was happy to drive Father (John) Anderson to Greeley. (There) I met another priest, a close friend of Father Anderson’s,” he read from his journal. Laughter followed when he added, “(But) I don’t think I will be welcomed to his rectory again.
“Father Greenslade is a tall man, with an accent, maybe English, I don’t know,” he read, adding that the two priests spent the afternoon telling tales about their seminary days.
“Father Greenslade was very gracious and cooked chicken on the grill,” Father Moreno continued. “Although he was very hospitable, I don’t think I made a (good) impression. … I sat on a chair that was from some big-shot in Santa Fe. (Father Greenslade’s) comments were, `Oh, you can’t sit on that please.’
On the way home, Father Anderson, later to become Msgr. Anderson, explained that the forbidden chair had once belonged to the first governor of Santa Fe. But that was just the first faux pas the seminarian had committed.
“I left that rectory with (another) flawed incident committed in his presence, I broke a Venetian wine glass, how, I don’t know — but I know I’ll never be invited back again,” Father Moreno concluded.
The ever-gracious priest did invite the seminarian back. Years later, he even invited him to share quarters with him at Holy Family rectory, which Father Moreno did for the last decade.
“He would come into my life at many times during my priesthood, the good times and the bad,” Father Moreno said, adding that Msgr. Greenslade preached at his first Mass and was to preach at his 25th anniversary Mass, but was too ill to do so. He died just weeks later.
His beloved friend, Father Moreno said, was like a father to him.
The dignified-looking priest was exceedingly generous, frequently surprising friends and family with special gifts. He loved antiques and good music — beautiful things in general — and that trait blessed others. A talented pianist, he shared his gift entertaining clergy and lay faithful. He introduced his family to opera, his cousin said, and his congregation benefited from liturgies that featured wonderful music — and good homilies that always began with a joke.
He kept his sense of humor to the end, said friend and parish business manager Carolyn Lutito. Sent home shortly after a May 17 surgery to correct an intestinal problem, Msgr. Greenslade described his hospital breakfast to Lutito saying, “The eggs you could bounce on the floor, they gave me a muffin as big as a basketball, and I think these beds were designed by St. Therese of Avila.”
Calling him “our family priest,” Lutito said that she grew to love the pastor whose eccentricities included speaking with an English/Irish accent — although his older sister, the late Sister Anne Greenslade, S.L., did not. Garcia attributed her cousin’s accent to his English/Irish heritage, and time he spent in Europe.
“I always think some eccentricity makes people interesting,” Lutito said. “We are going to miss him. He was a very, very dear man.”
Hundreds flocked to Holy Family Church for a June 12 vigil service, filling it to standing room only, to pray for and honor the priest who dedicated his life serving the Church in Northern Colorado.
The following day, before Msgr. Greenslade was laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery, a near capacity crowd filled the Cathedral for a funeral Mass presided by Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Concelebrants included retired Archbishop Daniel Kucera, O.S.B., of Dubuque, Iowa, and Father James Clavey of Chicago, Msgr. Greenslade’s cousin, as well as a couple hundred vested priests. Msgr. Greenslade was laid to rest right next to his good friend, Msgr. Anderson.
“Mount Olivet will never be the same again,” Father Moreno said.
Memorial contributions can be sent to Holy Family Church, 4377 Utica St., Denver, CO 80212.
