Biography

Fr John Albert Geitner, M.M.

Fr Geitner – ‘Always remember when you laugh, the world laughs with you, but when you cry, you cry alone. To live happily, you have to be self-disciplined. Control your emotions, treasure your time, be nice to the people around you, and respect and love god. Do not be the slave of money when you grow up, because you are the master of them.’

• • 1927 – born in New York in a Catholic family, an immigrant family from German
  • 1944 – entered the Catholic Foreign Mission of America (Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers)
  • 1948 – obtained an BA in philosophy at Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, New York
  • 1953 – ordained as priest at Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining; in the same year, he got another Bachelor degree in Theology
  • 1953-55 – obtained 2 more degrees: 1 BSc and Master of Arts degree in Biology at Fordham University because of his interest in science
  • 1955-56 – taught Biology and Mathematics at the Venard College
  • 1956-60 – taught science at the Maryknoll College, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
  • 1960-61 – as language class student at the Maryknoll House, Stanley, HK, to master Cantonese
  • 1962 -66 – as English teacher at the MFS, first served as a part-time teacher and in the last year of the period, he was assigned the head of the English Department; he also served as the assistant pastor in Kowloontsai and Ngau Tau Kok Parishes
  • 1966 – 69 – returned to US, taught General and Advanced Biology at Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn.
  • 1970 – came back to HK to take up the task of setting up Kwun Tong Maryknoll College, together with Fr. Cioppa
  • 1971 – 72 – as the principal of Kwun Tong Maryknoll College
  • 1973 – 82 – as the supervisor of Kwun Tong Maryknoll College, Ngau Tau Kok Catholic primary school and Lam Tin St Edward’s School.  In the same period he also opened an evening school in Kwun Tong Maryknoll College.  During these years, he mainly worked on transferring those schools under his supervision to the HK Diocesan Administration.
    He also served as the pastor of the Lam Tin Parish and the president of the Catholic Educational Council, the first chairman of the HK Religious School Board
  • 1976 – appointed as the Second Assistant to the Hong Kong Regional Superior
  • 1978 – elected as the First Delegate to the 1978 Maryknoll General Chapter in New York
  • 1982 – 88 – returned to New York, as the associate Director of Maryknoll Justice and Peace at New York; he was also appointed as the Maryknoll Representative to the non-government Organization of the Department of Public Information, United Nation in New York City
  • 1989 -1994 – returned to HK, as the associate pastor at Patrick’s Church School and the assistant pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish
  • 1995 – 2011 – acted as the supervisor at MFS
  • 2012-now – served as chaplain at Francis of Assisi Parish and MFS
  • 2015 – retired and stayed at Francis of Assisi Parish

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