A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Dec. 13 at the Marian Shrine chapel in Haverstraw/Stony Point, N.Y., for Salesian Brother James F. Wiegand, who died on Dec. 8 in Valley Hospital in Paramus. He was 91. He spent 70 years as a professed Salesian brother.
Born in 1933 in Freeport, Ill., Brother Wiegand had a younger sister, Martha. He studied at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., on a basketball scholarship from 1951 to 1952. His sister entered the Dominican order, inspiring him to become a religious brother. Martha suggested that he look at the Salesians because of his interest in teaching.
So Brother Wiegand came to the Salesians at the former Don Bosco Tech in Paterson as an adult aspirant in 1953. He found a solid family spirit there among the brothers and other staff, particularly Father Joseph Perozzi, Brother Michael Frazette, and Athletic Director Bill Kehoe. He was admitted to St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton that same year, made his first religious profession at Newton in 1954, and made his perpetual profession at Newton in 1960. He earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Don Bosco College in Newton in 1957.
In 1954, Brother Wiegand began teaching physical education and coaching basketball and baseball at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson. He was transferred to Salesian High School in New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1961. There, Brother Wiegand taught physical education and coached basketball for 19 years and was also in charge of the school’s summer day camp. He was elected many times to provincial chapters. He was a respected and successful coach. Brother Wiegand was elected to Salesian’s athletic hall of fame in 2008; the Salesian’s new gymnasium was named for him in 2010.
In 1980, Brother Wiegand was assigned to Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, La., where he was athletic director and administrative assistant. He served on the Salesian Boys & Girls Club staff in East Boston from 2000 to 2002. That year, he moved to his last Salesian community, Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, where he helped coach basketball and tennis, was assistant athletic director, and moderated the cafeteria.
Brother Wiegand entered assisted living in January 2020 and returned to Don Bosco Prep when he could.
He is survived by his sister, Dominican Sister Martha Wiegand, of Muskego, Wisc.
