Brother ‘Wasy’ Wasielewski was a winning Cathedral School basketball coach

Marianist Brother Joseph Wasielewski, a former teacher and coach at Cathedral School in Honolulu, where he led the basketball team to the league championships four years in a row in the 1950s, died in Cupertino, Calif., May 31, after a long illness. He was 90.

Brother Wasielewski also taught on Maui and in New York, Ohio and California, but his longest assignment was in Yokohama, Japan. He spent a few of his retiring years with the Marianist community in Honolulu.

Brother Wasielewski was born in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 15, 1917, to Boleslaus and Cecelia (Kantarski) Wasielewski. He was taught by Marianists at St. James Elementary School in Baltimore. One of his teachers had trouble pronouncing his last name and shortened it to “Wasy.” The name stuck, despite his mother’s protests.

Brother Wasy’s admiration for his Marianist teachers inspired him to enter the order as a postulant at age 14. His class was the first to complete four years of high school in the Marianist postulate at Beacon, N.Y.

Brother Wasy made his first vows in 1937 and perpetual vows in 1943 at Mount St. John in Dayton, Ohio. In 1938, he began a nearly 60-year career in education. For two decades, he taught at a number of elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn, Dayton, San Francisco, and Gardena, Calif., including Cathedral School in Honolulu and St. Anthony on Maui.

Passionate about sports, and particularly basketball, Brother Wasy coached several teams. At Cathedral School, his basketball team captured the league championship four years in a row.

Brother Wasy’s longest and favorite assignment began in 1959, when he was the first Marianist from the former Marianist Province of the Pacific to be sent to Japan. He spent the next 37 years at St. Joseph College in Yokohama, serving as an elementary school teacher and principal, and assistant high school principal. He also was the basketball coach and athletic moderator.

“I took the risk, and God was with me,” Brother Wasy said of the opportunity.

Brother Wasy was a respected and revered educator, known for his exactness in teaching grammar and writing and his droll humor. According to Brother Jim Dods, Brother Wasy often repeated two statements to his students: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and “Pooh, pooh, perouh,” when he thought they were bending the truth regarding homework.

“I appreciated the kindness he extended to me when I was a young brother learning the ropes of teaching,” Brother Dods said.

“Joe had a nice way with the Japanese children,” remembered Brother Ken Thompson. “He was a big, burly guy, but he didn’t let little things bother him. The children really liked him. He was a ‘big, jolly giant.’”

Brother Wasy returned to the United States in 1996 and joined the Marianist Hall community in Honolulu. According to fellow community member Father Bill O’Connell, Brother Wasy never hesitated to try something new. In his eighties, he became quite proficient at the computer.

In 2001, Brother Wasy moved to the Marianist community in Cupertino, Calif., where he corresponded regularly with alumni and parents from years past, especially those from Japan. He also enjoyed playing the harmonica, meditation, reciting his rosary and spiritual reading.

He celebrated his 70th anniversary as a Marianist in 2007.

“I am grateful to God, to our Blessed Mother, and to St. Joseph for all my years as a Marianist,” Brother Wasy said.

Brother Wasy had no immediate survivors. A funeral Mass was scheduled for June 10 at the Marianist Residence in San Antonio. He was to be buried at St. Mary’s University Cemetery in San Antonio.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Marianist Province of the U.S., 4425 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. 63108.