Robert T. Costello, S.J.: 1929-2017

Robert T. Costello, S.J., assistant to the vice president of enrollment management, died Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. He was 87 years old.

Costello was born in St. Louis on June 20, 1929 to William J. Costello and Florence Murray Costello. He attended St. Roch’s School for his elementary education and St. Louis University High School for his secondary education, graduating in 1947. Costello went on to attend Saint Louis University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology in 1951.

A Jesuit for 65 years and a priest for 53, Costello entered the Society at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, on August 17, 1951. After first vows and juniorate studies at Florissant, he returned to SLU and studied philosophy, earning a Licentiate in Philosophy in 1957.

From 1957 to 1960, Costello became a regent at St. Louis University High School. He continued his studies in theology at St. Mary’s College in St. Marys, Kansas, where he a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1964.

On June 11, 1963, Costello was ordained at St. Mary’s College. He then went on to his tertianship at St. Bueno’s College in Wales, UK, guided by Paul Kennedy, S.J. On April 22, 1972, Costello pronounced his final vows at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, where he taught psychology from 1965 to 1983.

In 1971, Costello completed his doctorate in counseling at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. During his years at Rockhurst Costello completed his doctorate in counseling at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri and also took two sabbaticals.

The first sabbatical was in the 1975-76 academic year, when Costello worked as a staff psychologist in the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He completed a second sabbatical in the 1981-82 academic year, conducting research in the Sam Houston State University Center for Corrections at Huntsville, Texas.

While at Rockhurst, Costello began working with the federal prison system and developed a special interest in how the Christian community could be part of the process of reconciling ex-offenders with society. From this sprang the "Seventy Times Seven" program focused on changing attitudes toward people who had been incarcerated. After serving as a rector, a provincial, and a high school president, following a sabbatical, he returned to his roots in psychology as a counselor at Southdown in Canada.

In 1983, Costello left Kansas for Missouri and became rector of the philosophate at Fusz Memorial in St. Louis. Then in 1985, he became the provincial, a post he held until 1991.

As a psychologist, Costello was interested in how the dynamics of formation affected men, starting with the novitiate, and what kind of formation would best prepare them for life in the Society of Jesus. For years, he assisted with psychological screening of candidates and served on the admissions board of the Missouri Province, making important contributions to the way that men were assessed.

It was in his role as provincial that the Jesuit international community came together in solidarity. As he was finishing his breakfast on November 16, 1989, Costello said he received phone call from José María Tojeira, S.J., who was the provincial of the Jesuits of Central America and who was living in San Salvador. He called regarding the unrest in that Central American city, and Costello explained that the moment the conversation began he could feel the struggle through the phone line:

"He blurted out that hours before six Jesuits and two women were shot to death.  He said the army was responsible – that the 'power elite' had ordered the deaths to stop the Jesuits [from proclaiming] the truth. … The Jesuits knew all this," Costello described.

With compassion and respect, Costello went on, quoting The Book of Matthew: "Their eyes were not blind to rank suppression because they were formed to recognize its victims. Their certainty centered on the Person crying out for justice. 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of these least … you did it to me.'"

Following another sabbatical, Costello was named president of St. Louis University High in 1992; it was a post he held in until 1997. He then spent three years in Canada as a staff member at Southdown Institute in Toronto and the Guelph Centre of Spirituality.

In 1997, Costello left SLUH to work in the Southdown Psychiatric Clinic in Toronto, Canada. At the time, Southdown was a 42- bed inpatient center funded by the Emmanuel Convalescent Foundation, where residents underwent intensive psychotherapy.

Students at SLUH wrote about Costello’s new mission in the school newspaper: "The mission of Southdown is rather unique: Its residents are members of the ministry who went to the clinic from as far away as Europe and Africa to seek help for troubles ranging from alcoholi.sm to depression." They quoted Costello as saying: "Most are just worn out from work."

Costello went on to work at Southdown from spring 1997 until 2000, when he took a post with the Christian Life Community, serving in various capacities in Birmingham, England.

From 2005 to 2015, Costello returned to St. Louis as regional ecclesial assistant. From 2009 to 2011, he was national ecclesial assistant. He also served as faculty chaplain at De Smet Jesuit High and was for a year the acting superior of the De Smet Jesuit Community.

When Costello observed fifty years as a Jesuit, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., then Superior General of the Society of Jesus, wrote to him, saying: "With humor, wisdom and faith, you led your fellow Jesuits through moments of untimely deaths, unsettling departures, and radical changes in living situations. You are a man of passion, vision and encouragement."

Most recently, Costello was an assistant to the Office of Admissions and the Division of Enrollment Management.  He primarily worked for the new student visit center in Queens Daughters Hall, greeting prospective students and their families, plus counseling families from Catholic high schools.

Fr. Costello will be greatly missed by students, faculty and staff," said Jay Goff, vice president of Enrollment and Retention. "He was a spiritual presence who greatly influenced our students and staff.  Fr. Costello had a knack for delivering daily inspiration, providing timely compassion, and offering insightful guidance." 

A part of Costello's duties involved working with students during campus visits and outreach activities.

"Fr. Costello made a real and significant impact on SLU students, encouraging them particularly when together they engaged in outreach activities as a part of their formation as future leaders," Goff said. "He helped us find God in all that we do.  He will be greatly missed." 

Costello is preceded in death by his parents, his brothers, William and Lawrence, and his sisters Rosemary Dittmeier and Anne Dependahl.

Visitation and funeral Mass will be Thursday, March 2, at St. Francis Xavier College Church, with visitation beginning at 4 p.m. and continuing until the beginning of the funeral Mass at 7 p.m. Processional from College Church to Calvary Cemetery will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 3. Burial will be at 9 a.m.  Members of the Jesuit Hall community are to offer an additional Mass, as well.