Father Claude L. Grenache, A.A., 79, passed away on June 18, 2017. Born and raised in Leominster, Fr. Grenache was introduced to the Assumptionist tradition at a very young age. From the influence of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit at school to his parish church, St. Cecelia’s, which produced six Augustinians of the Assumption, and family members and friends who had a love for Assumption, it was only fitting that Fr. Grenache would make his own mark on the institution.
Fr. Grenache graduated from Assumption Prep in 1955 and attended Assumption on a scholarship for young students discerning a religious vocation. After graduating from Assumption in 1959, he made his novitiate in Saugerties, NY, before earning his theological degrees from the Universite Catholique de Lyon in France. He was ordained on May 28, 1966, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where he taught English for 15 years.
Fr. Grenache served in various educational and pastoral ministries throughout his life. At Assumption, he was the institution’s first director of multicultural education before becoming the vice president of religious affairs and director of Campus Ministry. His tenure at Assumption lasted from 1989 to 1996. He also served on Assumption’s Board of Trustees from 1990 until his passing.
In addition to his work at Assumption, Fr. Grenache served in educational and pastoral ministry in Quebec, in New York City, and at Bentley University. Fr. Grenache ministered at Babson College as the director of the Spiritual Learning Center and as the Catholic chaplain. He was also a member of the International Commission for the Assumptionist Lay-Religious Alliance. In recent years, he served as the local superior and director of the Residency Program at the Assumptionist Center in Brighton.
He leaves his fellow Assumptionist fathers and brothers; a sister, Louise M. Mercier, and her husband Robert of Leominster; a niece, Amy Dawson of Portland, CT; two great-nephews, Nicholas and Alexander; and many cousins. He was preceded in death by his sister, Anne Mastrandrea, in 2002 and by a niece, Susan E. Mercier, in 2015.
