For immediate release
Contact: Jocelyn Thomas
Jthomas@hnp.org
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Oct. 23, 2020 — Br. Glenn Humphrey, OFM, 76, a professed Franciscan friar for 55 years, died on Oct. 9 at Bon Secours Maria Manor Nursing Care Center where he had lived since August. He had spent most of his life in academic and counseling work.
The friar community of St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial for Br. Humphrey in the friary chapel on Oct. 13. Burial was at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Clearwater, Florida.
Early Years
Br. Humphrey was born on Feb. 29, 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri, to William and Mary (née Hicks) and was baptized in Roeland Park, Kansas. He attended Bishop Miege High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas.
Br. Humphrey joined the Franciscans in 1964 as a member of St. John the Baptist Province, professing his first vows on Aug. 16, 1965 and his solemn vows on Aug. 16, 1968 in Cincinnati.
He graduated in 1967 from Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Michigan, with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and a minor in English. He earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of New Mexico in 1977 and a doctorate in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego in 1989.
Ministry
After his profession, Br. Humphrey lived and worked in the Southwest. He was assigned to a small mission on the Hopi Reservation in Kearns Canyon, Arizona.
After transferring to Holy Name Province in 1988, Br. Humphrey spent more than two decades working with troubled adolescents through programs in and around New York City. He worked at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx from 1989 to 1990. In the 1990s he also worked at several elementary schools, including St. Stephen of Hungary and All Saints parishes, and with the New York City Family Court and the Board of Education.
From 2005 until 2011, Br. Humphrey worked as a counselor at Rice High School in Harlem. When the school closed, he took a yearlong sabbatical and then returned to New Mexico. In 2012, he was assigned to Holy Family Friary in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he lived with the friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province. He enrolled at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, where he developed his photography skills. From 2012 until 2018, he worked at St. Michael Indian School in St. Michaels, Arizona, teaching photography and doing counseling.
Br. Humphrey served as a member of several professional organizations including the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the New York State Psychological Association, and the Arizona Psychological Association.
In April 2018, Br. Humphrey retired to St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg. He is survived by a brother, Jim Humphrey of Olathe, Kansas, a sister, Mary Anne Humphrey of Independence, Missouri, a nephew, Brian Humphrey of Frisco, Texas, and a niece Brooke Manning of Olathe, as well as several great-nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations may be sent to Franciscan Friars – Holy Name Province, 144 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001-3202.
About Holy Name Province
Holy Name Province is the largest of seven entities in the United States belonging to the Order of Friars Minor. With ministries in 12 states along the East Coast, its nearly 300 Catholic priests and brothers serve in colleges, parishes, urban ministry centers and a wide variety of social justice ministries, as well as in overseas missions.
The Franciscan Order, founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi, commemorated its 800th anniversary in 2009. Today, St. Francis, whose feast day is Oct. 4, remains one of the most widely known saints, revered for his affection for nature and care for creation.
Information about Holy Name Province can be found at www.hnp.org. News about the friars and their ministries can be found on the Facebook page of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province.
Interview and photo requests should be directed to Jocelyn Thomas, HNP director of communications, at 646-473-0265 ext. 321 or jthomas@hnp.org.