On 11 January 2021, a Funeral Mass for the Repose of the Soul of the late Father Francis James Hart was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Yarrawonga.

It was Fr Frank’s wish for his Funeral Mass to be held in Yarrawonga, at Sacred Heart Church where, in 1969, he was ordained a Priest. It seemed fitting too that he was buried at Yarrawonga Cemetery, “among my folks as they were my inspiration to become a Catholic Priest,” as Fr Frank wished.

Those who knew Fr Hart well, know that is was on the family farm in Boosey, near Yarrawonga, where he felt most in touch with God. It is probably also why Fr Frank didn’t mind the nickname “Boosey” given to him by fellow priests when they were seminarians, ‘’Boosey” had only positive connotations for Fr Frank. For it was in his teenage years in Boosey where Fr Frank was immersed in the love of his parents and warm extended family; including two bachelor Uncles who treated him as their favourite son. “He had a great image of God and what it meant to be loved,” said friend and fellow priest Fr Des Welladsen when remembering Fr Frank “He was aware of that big river of life.”

It was perhaps because of the challenges his family faced in his early childhood in St Kilda that Fr Frank developed his well-known sense of compassion for others and appreciation for people as ‘gifts’. Treatment for serious mastoiditis left Fr Frank with a permanent hearing loss. His father suffered from tuberculosis, leaving his mother to care for him and his two sisters, Marie and Patty, “like a single mother”. For a while Fr Frank and Marie went to live with their maternal Aunt, Uncle and several cousins in Burramine, so that their mother could care for Fr Frank’s father and elderly grandparents.

Eventually the Hart family moved from St Kilda to Boosey to live on the family farm, as it was a better climate for Fr Frank’s father’s recovery. It was in Boosey that Fr Frank’s family thrived, his father keeping chooks, his parents enjoying time in the garden growing vegetables, Uncle John tinkering with machines, Uncle Tom working on the farm and Fr Frank “enjoying the rewards of farm life.”

Fr Frank enjoyed the farm so much that, although he had done well at school, he chose to leave Assumption College, where he was boarding, after Form Four (Year ten) and return to work on the farm. He was very involved in sport and community life in Yarrawonga and Burramine and was a particularly good tennis player, although Fr Des Welladsen begs to differ; “I was a much better tennis player than Boosey, but he always beat me.”

Fr Frank and his family were devout Catholics and very much involved in parish life. Fr Frank was an altar boy throughout most of his childhood and as he became a young man, niggling thoughts about the priesthood became stronger. After conversations with his Parish Priest and Bishop Stewart, Fr Frank committed to returning to high-school as a mature-aged student. He completed two-years of schooling in one, then entered Corpus Christ College, Werribee.

In his memoirs, Fr Frank recollects his first day at the seminary, “As I looked around the room, I did not know one soul. It was a rather daunting and lonely experience.”

It seems Fr Frank turned this experience of loneliness into a strength, displayed in kindness and an ability to see the need in others, as Fr Rom Hayes recollects,
“When I arrived at the seminary, I was somewhat lost and often lonely.  There is one figure who stands out in those early times.  Not only was Frank good fun, he also had a good eye for loneliness and a recently-arrived young Sandhurst seminarian.  He gave me a welcome whenever our paths crossed.” “It was no wonder that Fr Frank soon became very popular with the other seminarians and many of them stayed close friends until the day he died” said Fr Rom.

Fr Hart served as an assistant priest in many parishes of the Diocese of Sandhurst before travelling to Canada to complete a Master of Sacred Theology. Fr Des said Fr Frank came back “all fired up with all these ideas for change,” Cohuna didn’t know what had hit them!

Fr Frank’s first appointment as a Parish Priest was to Cohuna. A parishioner recalls Fr Hart as a “striking presence, full of energy and passion, and ripe for the challenges of leading a parish through the positive changes of the second Vatican Council.”

Fr Frank wrote of his time as Parish Priest of Cohuna “It was a time of much growth and activity for me in my ministry as finally I was empowered, as a parish priest, to implement post Vatican II initiatives and ministries. I was grateful to be a late vocation, because I came in on the crest of the Church’s new appreciation of empowering the laity in liturgical matters, especially in the celebration of the Sunday Mass.”

Fr Des Welladsen remembered conversations with Fr Frank at this time. “Boosey loved his priesthood dearly. He wanted to take on the world. He became frustrated when positive changes didn’t come as quickly as he through they should.”

After serving as Parish priests in Cohuna and then Euroa, Fr Frank suffered what he called a “health setback” and the rigors and responsibilities of working as a full-time parish priest became increasingly more difficult.

He took sabbatical leave and studied in Jerusalem. On his returned to Australia, Fr Frank served part-time as a pirest in Wangaratta while residing at his family home in Boosey.

In his later years, Fr Frank retired to Benalla and eventually to Bendigo.

Fr Rom said of this time, “I remember, at the seminary, Frank would talk to me when we were all meant to be in silence.  In some ways his frequent mischief-making remained part of his charm and that charm stayed with him until his final months of sickness.  It was difficult to sit with him in those final times.  His charm and good humour gradually left him.”

At the Funeral Mass for Fr Frank, Bishop Shane Mackinlay expressed gratitude to Ms Geraldine Stills, who was Frank’s carer in his latter years.

Fr Rom also has extended gratitude to Geraldine, “Since I remember myself as one of Frank’s fond friends, I dearly want to acknowledge one person who walked with Frank faithfully through those tough final months.  Geraldine – your faithfulness and care were without parallel.  I take this opportunity of sincerely thanking you for the care you gave to such a good friend of mine.  I believe you could still see Frank’s goodness, charm and priesthood even when the light was dim and the end descending,” said Fr Rom.

 
The Funeral Mass for the Repose of the Soul of the late Fr Francis James Hart celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, Yarrwaong on Monday 11 January can be viewed at the Mulqueen Funerals website.

Watch the Funeral Mass