Br. Edward-Marc Arambasich, 73, passes away in Burlington, Wisconsin

Br. Edward-Marc Arambasich, OFM, 73, passed away on March 26, 2025, at Queen of Peace Friary in Burlington, Wisconsin, after battling lung cancer. Br. Ed worked with high school students and college students and as chaplain for fire fighters in New Orleans, Louisiana; Quincy and Joliet, Illinois; and at Ground Zero in New York City, after the 9/11 attacks. A man of many talents, he was also a church musician and wrote the alma mater for a Cincinnati Catholic school. 

Visitation for Br. Ed will be held on Tuesday, April 1, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black Road (at Essington Road), Joliet, IL 60431. Funeral services will begin on Wednesday, April 2, with prayers at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at St. Ambrose Church, located at 1705 Burry Circle, Crest Hill, IL 60403. Committal prayers and entombment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery Mausoleum in Romeoville, Illinois.

A Joliet native, Br. Ed was born Oct. 7, 1951, to Edward J. Arambasich and Joann J. (née Mulvey) Arambasich. He met the Franciscans as a student at St. John the Baptist Church in Joliet and was an ironworker and aspiring Joliet firefighter before answering the call to religious life. 

From 1972 to 1992, he was a Benedictine monk at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois, professing first vows on Aug. 11, 1973, and making his solemn profession on June 4, 1977. As a Benedictine, he served as assistant dean of students at Benet Academy, a Benedictine co-educational, college preparatory school. 

In 1992, he began exploring a call to a Franciscan vocation with the Order of Friars Minor’s legacy Sacred Heart Province. He returned to his hometown of Joliet, where he completed his Franciscan formation, or training, while ministering to firefighters at Station No. 5, where his uncle, Bill Telfer Jr., was assigned. He professed solemn vows as a Franciscan friar on Aug. 17, 1996. 

From 1995 to 2002, he was a member of the Tau House Faith Community in New Orleans, Louisiana, and vicar of the Franciscan community from 1998 to 2002. He worked in the French Quarter and at Project Lazarus, a residence for indigent persons dying from AIDS. He also served as a volunteer chaplain for the local police and fire departments from 2000 to 2002. Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Br. Ed went to Ground Zero in New York City as a critical incident debriefing chaplain for the Fire Department of New York. 

Br. Ed took a sabbatical year to study applied theology, then moved to Quincy University in Illinois, where he worked in campus ministry from 2003 to 2012, served as vicar from 2003 to 2008, worked in the Franciscan Volunteer Office in 2008, and was guardian from 2008 to 2011. He also was chaplain for the Quincy Fire Department. 

In 2016, Br. Ed served briefly at St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco, California, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, for medical care. He returned to Joliet as guardian in 2017, and provincial spiritual assistant to the Secular Franciscans in 2020. 

Before moving to Wisconsin, Br. Ed lived at St. Clement Friary in Cincinnati. As a volunteer choir director, he helped plan the Wednesday morning Mass for St. Clement School. He also composed the school's alma mater, which students continue to sing today. On the day Br. Ed passed away, students sang the alma mater as part of the homily, unaware of his passing at that time. 

Br. Ed is survived by family members, including his sisters Lori and Pam, brother Tom, nieces and nephews, many, many friends and his brother friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.