In Memoriam

Fr. Ivan Ramirez, assisting priest at Holy Trinity/ La Santísima Trinidad, Richmond, died peacefully at about 10:30 in the morning on February 26 at Berkeley's Alta Bates Hospital. On the one hand we feel the sadness of his loss. On the other hand, he was in pain and miserable because of the limitations of his condition, and he is now released from his suffering.

His wife Elena told me a story about one of his last days in the convalescent hospital. Many people were visiting at the same time. A Cuban woman who worked at the hospital asked, "Who is this man that so many people come to visit him?" When she was informed that he was a priest, she said, "Oh, I must make my confession." So, while the visitors waited in the garden, Ivan heard the woman's confession. So, he was a priest to the end.

A funeral service will be held at Grace Cathedral on Saturday, April 12th, at 4 p.m.

--Written by John Rawlinson

Ivan was in the clergy support group that was formed when I began at St Cuthbert's. A very kind, soft-spoken man with a warm smile. He and his gracious wife Elena were such a joy to know. They were Chileans who had lived her so long they were truly between cultures, knowing they could never really go back. He is the priest who was accused of almost making the sign of the Cross when he gave the benediction at the end of a Eucharist while visiting Chile. The Southern Cone wanted nothing that Catholic in their church.

For many years he was the pastor at El Buen Samaritano in San Francisco.

We are poorer and heaven is richer for his passing.
--the BB