Aracich, Anthony S. (Father)

Jesuit Father Anthony S. Aracich died on Sept. 12, 2013. He was 77 years old, had been a member of the Society of Jesus for 58 years and a priest for 46.

A graduate of Regis High School and Holy Cross College, Fr. Aracich was a very caring and apostolic-minded Jesuit and a gifted linguist. Fluent in Croatian, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Polish, he taught modern languages at Xavier High School, Regis High School and Loyola School in Manhattan; Loyola School in Brooklyn, N.Y.; and St. Peter’s Prep and St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, N.J. Fr. Aracich first arrived at Xavier as a scholastic in 1962. Over the years he taught Spanish, Latin, Italian and French and introduced the first classes in Russian at Xavier. He did doctoral studies at NYU and also taught at Canisius High School and the Insituto Ciencias, the Jesuit school in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Fiercely proud of his Croatian heritage, Fr. Aracich was also zealously concerned with the spiritual care of Hispanic immigrants. He served as pastor at Nativity Parish on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and as associate pastor and coordinator of Hispanic activities at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brooklyn and Assumption/All Saints parish in Jersey City. For the past several years he spent a month each summer in Guadalajara, Mexico. He is survived by two cousins, Lucy Aracich Hughes and Gloria Aracich Del Corso.