Meet Br. Joseph Martin

The Midwest District interviewed Br. Joseph Martin, a Senior Brother who is happily enjoying his retirement while living with his Brothers at Lewis. He reflected on his time teaching and updated us on what he’s doing now!

Do you have a favorite memory from your time teaching?

In my early years at Lewis University, I taught “Introduction to Christianity” for several semesters. The classes had students from all years. One semester I was correcting final exams in the blue books we used. One female student wrote on the first page, “Please read and correct my entire exam before reading the last page.” When I had finished, I turned to the final page and read that she was inspired by my class, and after graduation she planned to attend a Lutheran seminary and then be ordained. There are some things money can’t buy, and her comment was “priceless.”

What is a particular gift you gave to your students?

My one gift to students would be the ability to listen attentively to others. Too often in conversations we are not listening to other people but preparing our remarks or rebuttals for when they finish. During TV interviews and some news casts the participants are shouting at each other and not listening at all. The ability to listen attentively might just help us solve some problems and make ours a more polite society. We need that in these times.

What are you up to these days?

During my years at Lewis University, our Brothers’ community has sponsored four young Brothers from the Lwanga District who pursued doctoral degrees. Our Senior Brothers helped them adjust to the campus and to our community life. They supported them financially and helped them with medical appointments and shopping, until they obtained a U.S. driver’s license. With the pending arrival of a fifth Lwanga student Brother in the fall 2021 semester, I volunteered to be his guide during his years with us. As a retired Brother, it is important to me to stay up-to-date with people and participate in events in the District. I also support a scholarship fund at Lewis, and in the spring 2021 semester, I began to volunteer in the Archives using my previous experience to fill the gap since the university does not have an archivist. 

I have also been busy continuing my 50+ years of family history research. I enjoy reading mystery novels and watching movies and programs on Netflix and Amazon Prime like Star Trek, The Crown, Queen’s Gambit, and the standup comedy of Jim Gaffigan. I also enjoy playing Scrabble against my Kindle. In our Brothers’ community I develop our annual and weekly calendars, organize leaders for our community prayers, prepare minutes of community meetings, and maintain our official Register book of Brothers who join our community.