Br. Mario Di Lella, OFM, 97, passed away on Nov. 13, 2024, in Beacon, New York. He was a professed Franciscan friar for 76 years and a priest for 71 years. Funeral arrangements are pending. 

He was born on March 8, 1927, in Paterson, New Jersey, to Alexander and Adelaide (née Grimaldi) Di Lella and baptized Germano. He attended St. Bonaventure Elementary School and graduated from St. Bonaventure High School in 1945. Thanks to the influence of the friars serving at St. Bonaventure Parish, he decided to join the friars’ formation program at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, New York. His brother, the late Alexander Di Lella, OFM, was also a Franciscan friar. 

He was received into the Franciscan Order on Aug. 12, 1947; made simple vows on Aug. 13, 1948; professed solemn vows on Sept. 17, 1951; and was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1953. 

Br. Mario’s first assignment in 1954 was to a mission parish in Moultrie, Georgia, as the first permanent pastor of that faith community. He entered the U.S Air Force as a reservist on active duty in November 1958 and was promoted to full colonel in 1978. Br. Mario retired from the Air Force Reserves in 1987 and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a military chaplain. In addition, he served as pastor of St. Augustine Church in Thomasville, Georgia, from 1964 to 1970, and was religious superior of the Franciscan friary there.

Most of Br. Mario’s years as a Franciscan were dedicated to campus ministry. He spent 38 years at The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and four years at the University of Florida at St. Petersburg. In 1984, he received the Graduate Student Center Staff Member of the Year Award at Georgia Tech, and the following year, spearheaded construction of a new Catholic Center building on campus. Br. Mario was made an honorary Georgia Tech Alumnus in 1990. At USFSTP, he was known for expanding the campus ministry outreach program and received the Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award for 2008 to 2009. He retired to St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg in 2008, and moved to St. Lawrence Friary in Beacon, New York, in 2023. 

He is survived by family members, friends and friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

May he rest in peace.