Br. Michael Madden, OFM, 91, passed away on Aug. 4 in St. Petersburg, Florida. For 62 years as a Franciscan friar, he worked as a cook, maintained facilities and cared for sick and elderly friars along the East Coast. 

Visitation will be Monday, Aug. 11, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary, Our Lady of Grace Church, 515 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, Florida, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Lunch will be at the friary following the interment.  

Br. Michael was born on Dec. 13, 1933, in Baltimore to William and Grace Mary (née Manning) Madden, one of 11 children. His brother. Br. Charles Ramond Madden, OFM Conv., passed away in 2023. Br. Michael attended St. Dominic grammar school and Gompers Vocations High School, both in Baltimore. He professed simple vows on July 15, 1963, in Lafayette, New Jersey, and solemn vows on Aug. 22, 1966, at Christ the King Seminary in Allegany, New York.  

Br. Michael began his ministry as a cook and as a member of the maintenance team during his formation from 1963 to 1966 at St. Francis Retreat Center in Rye Beach, New Hampshire. He worked in the infirmary at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, from 1966 to 1967. For the next two years, he returned to maintenance work in Washington, D.C., before rejoining the St. Bonaventure infirmary from 1968 to 1969.   

He returned to maintenance work for the rest of his ministry, back to Washington, D.C. (1969 to 1971), then Brookline, Massachusetts (1971 to 1983) and in Silver Spring, Maryland (1983 to 1986). He moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1986 to work in maintenance and continued that job after his retirement in 2012.  

His ministry was always nurturing the life of the fraternity. Br. Michael enjoyed caring for the brothers and lived and worked in houses of formation for many years. Although he was not formally part of formation teams, he guided and encouraged many men seeking Franciscan life. His wit and insight were a gift.  

He is survived by a sister, Catherine Plantholt, nieces and nephews, and his brother friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.