Auto Accident Kills Three Brothers
On January 29, 1962, a tragic auto accident in California’s Sierra foothills claimed the lives of three prominent Christian Brothers.
Victims of an icy patch of on U.S. 50 were:
Br. Sylvester Albert, President, St. Mary’s College of CA;
Br. Fidelis Cornelius, authority on the works of California artist William Keith; and
Br. Venefridian Julius, “Hermano Julio,” the first Spaniard to become a Christian Brother in the US.
The guiding force behind the Art Gallery at St. Mary’s College (and its namesake), Br. Cornelius originally received the robe at Ammendale (MD) in 1893. When his family moved to California in 1906, Brother Cornelius transferred to that District.