Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 10: a.m., at Holy Family Catholic Church in Lindsay with The Most Reverend George J. Lucas, Archbishop of Omaha, celebrating the Mass. Visitation will be on Friday, from 4-7 p.m., with a Vigil Service at 7 p.m., all at the church. Visitation will continue Saturday, from 9 a.m. until service time, also at the church. Interment will be in the parish cemetery. The Vigil Service and Mass will be broadcast live on the Gass Haney Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100057043736890 James had humble beginnings, born on the prairie in a log cabin on Aug. 30, 1938, in Omaha, Neb. He attended St. Bernard’s elementary school and Creighton Prep before going abroad to Conception seminary in Missouri and St. Thomas seminary in Colorado. He was ordained a priest on May 23, 1964, and never looked back, serving God for over 50 years! Along the way, he has communed with and inspired countless, including Saint (Pope) John Paul II and Mother Theresa, both of whom often spoke warmly of James. In his calling, he was a master of metaphors bring his homilies to life and bringing his parishioners closer to God’s teachings. In his second calling, he caught many, many, many, fish and even boxed with a grizzly.

James served as a priest at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Omaha 1964 – 1966, at Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk 1966 – 1967, St. Bridget Parish in Omaha 1967 – 1971, Mary Our Queen Parish in Omaha 1971 – 1974, St. Joseph Parish in Pierce 1974 – 1982, and Sacred Heart Parish in Emerson 1982 – 1996 with double duty at St. John Parish in Pender, at Holy Family Parish in Lindsay 1996 – 2019 and did double duty and St. Edward Parish in St. Edward 1996 – 2010. Basically, he carried the bread and water and blessed it for the Catholic Church in Nebraska for decades.

If it were not enough, in addition

to all his priestly duties: baptizing, confirming, hearing confessions, saying Masses and giving Holy Communion, marrying, and anointing the sick, in his abundant leftover free time, he taught at Ryan High School and Norfolk Catholic for many years, lifting unsuspecting teenagers and opening their eyes to the beauty of the world around them. He brought Teens Encounter Christ to rural Nebraska in the 1980s. And James served as a Boy Scout leader from 1974 – 2010, sharing his love of the natural world through more trips than he can count to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, to the National Jamboree in Virginia and to Alaska. His deep love of all God’s creations infected anyone who traveled with James and loved to brag that he never brought back a dead body though he had a few close scrapes that we won’t mention.

James is survived by his sister Kathryn (Kay) Martins, dozens of nieces and nephews, even more great nieces and nephews, hundreds of married couples and thousands (perhaps millions) of Boy Scouts. James is preceded in heaven by his father Frank, his mother Lunora and his brothers, Thomas, Joseph, Jerry Hudson, Ronald Martins, and his sisters Jeanne and Maureen.

James was a man of peace loved by family, friends, parishioners, coworkers, basically everyone that had the chance to encounter this larger-than-life spirit. Our loss is heaven’s gain.

Condolences may be sent to www.gasshaney.com