A funeral Mass for Redemptorist Father Albert (Al) Babin was celebrated July 8 at St. Clement Redemptorist Chapel in Liguori. Father Babin died Mercy Hospital in St. Louis on July 4 at the age of 95. A benevolent leader who influenced generations of Redemptorist missionaries, Father Babin leaves a legacy as a respected teacher, mentor and friend. He was the eldest member of the Denver Province, and celebrated his 75th jubilee as a Redemptorist missionary and 70th jubilee of ordination to the priesthood this year.

Albert Clarence Babin was born on Nov. 13, 1926, in New Orleans. Two weeks later, he was baptized at nearby St. Alphonsus Parish. Members of the local Redemptorist community nurtured his religious vocation. He professed temporary vows in De Soto on Aug. 2, 1947, and perpetual vows at Pine City, Minnesota, on Sept. 2, 1950. He was ordained to the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on June 26, 1952.

Father Babin began his ministry — and served nearly two decades — in the Redemptorist formation system. He was appointed to the faculty at St. Joseph’s College in Kirkwood in 1954. Five years later, he joined the faculty at St. Joseph’s Preparatory College in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He was named director of Holy Redeemer Seminary in Lacombe, Louisiana, in 1961, and also served on the faculty and as local community superior. He was named novice master and local community superior of Blessed John Neumann House in Clinton, Iowa, from 1967-68, and continued in those positions at Immaculate Conception College in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, from 1968-72. In his next assignment, Father Babin was appointed as a parish priest and served as treasurer of the local community at Holy Ghost Parish in Houston, Texas.

In 1975, he was elected vice provincial superior of the Vice Province of New Orleans. After serving two terms at the helm of the Vice Province, he was named pastor and local community superior of St. Alphonsus Parish in New Orleans. He remained local community superior but was appointed an itinerant mission preacher from 1986-87. Confreres called upon his leadership skills once again, and he was elected Ordinary Consultor for the 1987-90 term. Father Babin spent a fulfilling decade as an itinerant mission preacher based at St. John Neumann House in Biloxi, Mississippi. He served as Vice Postulator for the Cause for Canonization of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos from 1996 until 1999. In 2000, he was appointed local community superior of St. John Neumann House. He was in Biloxi when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August of 2005 and remained in residence until 2006, when he relocated to St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community in Liguori. Father Babin was a pillar of the St. Clement community. He continued to serve in leadership positions and provided help at nearby parishes until his health no longer permitted. He was always readily available for spiritual direction, confession, and other ministries, until the time of his death.