Born Don Ehrne on August 28, 1924 in Buffalo, New York, he was the son of Edwin and Ceil Ehrne . He went to St. Mark’s School and St. Joseph’s High School. After high school he went to Niagara University for a year and then entered the Navy, studied at Hobart College and became a commissioned officer. He came back to civilian life and entered Our Lady of the Angels Seminary to study for the priesthood in the diocese of Buffalo, New York. While in the seminary he read the life of St. Paul of the Cross by Edmund Burke, C.P. About to be sent to Rome for studies, he decided to join the Passionists instead. He entered the novitiate and was professed on August 15, 1949. His religious name was Robert. He was ordained on February 27, 1953 in Union City, New Jersey. After a year of sacred eloquence in West Springfield, Massachusetts he was sent to The Catholic University of America and obtained a degree in chemistry. He then taught that subject at the Prep in Dunkirk, New York for ten years. He was a parish priest in Brighton, Massachusetts; econome in Jamaica, New York; vicar in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts; rector in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and vicar in North Palm Beach, Florida. He then went to the House of Greater Solitude, Bedford, Pennsylvania. He then was assigned as guest master at the Passionist Generalate in Rome and assistant to Father Caspar Caulfield, C.P. who was General Secretary of the Passionist Missions. Back in the States, he went again to the House of Solitude, Bedford. Then he became vicar of West Springfield. After one year he was back at Bedford. His health began to fail and he was assigned to Foley Hall, West Hartford, Connecticut. He died at the Providence Nursing Home after a long bout with diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
Birth Date:
August 28, 1924
Profession Date:
August 15, 1949
Ordination Date:
February 27, 1953
Death Date:
March 29, 1997
Religious Name:
Robert of Jesus and Mary Ehrne