Brother Nicholas Crosby, worked in Blackwood, dies

Brother Nicholas Crosby, SDS, former office manager and bookkeeper at St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood, died Nov. 16, 2013, at the age of 86.
Born Maximilian Vincent in Painesville, Ohio, on Feb. 9, 1927, he was one of seven children. After his high school graduation, he enlisted in the Army and began his active service in July 1945, just weeks before the end of World War II. He was trained as a clerk and map-maker before being sent to Japan as Company Clerk.
In April 1948, Vincent became a Brother Candidate for the Salvatorian Order, in St. Nazianz, Wis. After a novitiate year, he made his first profession on March 19, 1950.
After working as bookkeeper and gardener at St. Nazianz, his skills in bookkeeping, records managing, and secretarial work took him elsewhere, to serve at a high school, college and seminary.
In 1969, he became the office manager and bookkeeper of St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood, where he came into daily contact with retreatants. Brother Nicholas proved to be a good listener, and a quiet, kind man with a gentle spirit and good sense of humor.
In 1986, he was asked to serve as secretary to the Provincial Team, but a year later, returned to New Jersey, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. He moved to Milwaukee in 2004.
Brother Nicholas was buried in the community cemetery at St. Nazianz.