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MASSEL, John Alfred Oblate of Mary Immaculate, age 76 years and 8 months, died suddenly and peacefully Tuesday evening, May 31, 2005. Father Massel was born in Toronto, Ontario on September 23, 1928, son of the late Alfred Joseph Massel and Mary Frances McNamara. He was predeceased by his brother, William Joseph Massel. Following ordination on June 5, 1955 in Ottawa, Fr. Massel continued with studies until his apointment the following year to St. Patrick's College in Ottawa as teacher, then Vice Principal and later Principal. In 1964 he headed West to Vancouver, B.C., where he served as Assistant Pastor at St. Augustine's Church. Two years later Fr. John was moved to Vancouver Island where he was stationed first at St. Ann's Church in Duncan as Missionary to the Cowichan people, and a year later named Principal of the Kuper Island Indian Residential School. In 1969 Fr. Massel was assigned to St. Mary's Indian Residential School in Mission as Missionary to the Native Communities, and three years later returned to Duncan as Missionary to the Cowichan people. In 1974 Fr. Massel was appointed Provincial Superior of St. Paul's Province. Five years later he was off to Cuernavaca in Mexico taking language studies in preparation for his missionary work in Latin America. In mid December, 1979, Fr. Massel arrived in Lima, Peru where he first served as Assistant Pastor for a large parish of more than 100,000 in Comas on the northern edge of Lima. A few years later he crossed the Andes to minister in the jungle parish in Aucayacu. A year-long sabbatical from Peru in 1986 afforded Fr. John an opportunity for renewal and rest. For a short time following his sabbatical he did supply work in various parishes in Canada before being assigned in 1991 to the Formation Team in St. Albert, AB. A year later Fr. Massel was named Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Terrace before returning to Lima, Peru in December 1994 to serve on the Formation Team and in the missions. In late 1995, Fr. John served as Assistant Pastor in Our Lady of Peace Parish, another large parish in Comas, Lima until his retirement in July, 2003 at the Oblate House in Vancouver, B.C. Prayers will be offered on Monday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Augustine's Catholic Church, 2028 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver where Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday June 7 at 11:00 a.m. Interment to follow at the Oblate Cemetery in Mission, B.C. Kearney Funeral Home 604-736-0268 Published in the Ottawa Citizen on 6/4/2005