Born Billy Berard on October 27, 1898, he was a student at Boston College High School and then was employed by the Boston and Albany Railroad. In August 1921 he was invited to go to the Passionist novitiate in Pittsburgh with Father Garrahan of Framingham, Massachusetts to attend the profession of Father Bernard Gilleran. This led him to enter the novitiate, and he professed his vows on September 9, 1923 and was ordained on March 15, 1930. One year later he was sent to China where he was a missionary for seventeen years. He was four years imprisoned by the Japanese and once released, returned to the United States for two years as preacher, then one and one half years at St. Gabriel’s Brighton, Massachusetts. This was followed by twenty-two years as hospital chaplain at Kennedy Memorial Hospital.
Birth Date:
October 27, 1898
Profession Date:
September 9, 1923
Ordination Date:
March 15, 1930
Death Date:
April 30, 1973
Religious Name:
Leo Joseph of the Holy Family Berard