A photograph of [from left to right] Fr. Maistrini-Hong Kong Catholic Action Leader, Fr. Brack, Archbishop Riberi, Fr. Downs, Fr. Chen-Secretary to Msgr. Riberi and Bro. Mario. They are posing outside in front of a building. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Fr. Keelan entered Maryknoll in 1926 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 17, 1934. He was assigned to Wuchow, China the following month. His ability in Mandarin was such that he was made professor of that language in Stanley and later in Kweilin. In 1952 he was assigned to Formosa, where he labored among the Mandarin speaking people until 1974. His language skills were put to good use while writing many pamphlets and language texts. -- Born in Pennsylvania, Fr. Downs came to Maryknoll in 1920 after being ordained in the Erie Diocese in 1916. He took a perpetual oath to Maryknoll in 1930. He was assigned to Kaying in 1925 and became Society Superior there in 1930. In 1939 he was assigned to teach the Hakka dialect in Hong Kong. He spent many years in Hong Kong and the South China region before returning to the United States in 1969. -- Born in Massachusetts, Fr. Brack came to Maryknoll in 1935, after receiving a degree at Holy Cross College. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 11, 1939. After ordination Fr. Brack was assigned to the Maryknoll mission in the Wuchow Vicariate, South China. During World War II he remained in China and served first as pastor of the mission in Taiwan and later Chungking. Among his pastoral duties was service to the U.S. military personnel in that area, for which he was awarded the Emblem for Meritorious Civilian Service. He was named procurator of the Maryknoll house in Hong Kong in 1946. He returned to the United States in 1948 and because he had a talent with financial matters, he served in several positions for the Society in the United States.
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