Cormac Antram
Father Cormac Antram O.F.M. (May 18, 1926 – October 1, 2013), born James Antram and known as Father Cormac, was a
Biography
Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Antram became a Franciscan in 1945, studied at Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Michigan from 1946 to 1950, and was ordained a priest in 1954. He was assigned to St. Michael's Mission in St. Michaels, Arizona and spent his career at institutions around the Navajo Nation, including in Chinle, Houck, and Kayenta, Arizona, and in Gallup and Tohatchi, New Mexico.[2]
Antram learned to speak Navajo fluently, and in 1958 began a bilingual radio program, known as "The Padre's Hour" (although the programs were actually only a half-hour in length) that became widely popular among the Navajo.
He died in 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, aged 87. He was reported to be the last Franciscan priest who could speak the Navajo Language fluently. In 2011, his celebration of the Navajo Mass was recorded on video to preserve it for future use. He also authored two books collecting columns and stories from his column in the diocese newspaper.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Leo W. Banks, "The Holy Wind Talker: Father Cormac Antram Arrived on the Navajo Reservation in 1954, Learned the Daunting Language and Started a Radio Show That Still Provides a Generational Link for a Changing Culture." Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2003.
- ^ "Obituary for Fr. Cormac Antram, OFM" Archived 2014-03-19 at the Wayback Machine, Voice of the Southwest (Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup), October 2, 2013.
- Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 978-0268037024, p. 212.
- ^ a b Bill Donovan, "More than 300 attend Navajo-speaking priest's funeral", Navajo Times, October 10, 2013.
