Brother James (Anthony) Ornelas, SSS

Friday, Mar. 28, 2014

Brother James (Anthony) Ornelas, 58, of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, died March 20, 2014 in Houston, Texas.

He grew up in Sacred Heart Parish in Salt Lake City and served as a U.S. Army chaplain assistant, and later in the National Guard.

He entered the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1992. Following profession, he served as a certified pastoral minister in Cleveland, Ohio, and shared in the mission of the Congregation at St. Patrick Parish in Salt Lake City from 2001 to 2006, where he ministered to the Tongan community and received a title as "Honorary Noble."

He was deputy director for the Salt Lake City Police Department chaplains, a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus and past Grand Knight of Council 1838 in Menasha, Wisc. He also was a board member of the national Teens Encounter Christ, where he served on the local community and national levels.

Since 2007 he had served as port chaplain at the Houston Seafarer’s Center of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He lived at Corpus Christi Parish, where he collaborated with the Corpus Christi Council of Catholic Women for the Christmas Shoebox Project for the Seafarers. He was also active with the Knights of Columbus Council 12385 as their chaplain.

He is survived by his parents, Agapito and Betty (Sisneros) Ornelas; and his brother, Aaron Ornelas and Rejina Huffman, all of Salt Lake City.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held March 27 at St. Ann Catholic Church in Salt Lake City. A Memorial Mass is scheduled for April 1 in Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Houston, Texas.

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