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Last Tuesday night, Jan. 23, 2005, the Rev. Gregory C. Hartley, S.J., Loyola College chaplain for the past eight years, died at his home at the Jesuit Residence from natural causes. He was 56.
Hartley was born on Oct. 12, 1948, in Baltimore, Md. and graduated high school from Polytechnic Institute in 1966.
"Greg and I were grammar school buddies -- we went to St. Matthew's school together," said Dr. Charles LoPresto, a Loyola psychology professor and Hartley's long-time friend. "He was a bit left of center even back then and always had a smile -- just a very, very sweet guy."
He entered the Society of Jesus in 1974 but continued to pursue graduate studies at Fordham University before teaching at Georgetown Prep high school. Twelve years later, on June 14, 1986, Hartley was ordained a priest at Loyola College.
After being ordained Hartley entered into the next chapter of his life, where he spent 10 years teaching theology at Loyola Blakefield high school in Towson.
When he finished teaching at Loyola Blakefield, he moved to Germany to practice Zen.
"During the course of his great life-long theological project Greg became more and more interested in the relationships between Zen-Buddhism and Christianity," said the Rev. Eugene M. Geinzer, rector of the Ignatius House Jesuit Community.
After a year in Germany, Hartley returned to Loyola and joined the department of Campus Ministry, where he has worked for the last eight years.
At Loyola, Hartley led a class on pre-marriage counseling and was co-moderator of the JUSTICE club.
In December 2004, Hartley traveled to India and spent a month in prayer at a "bodhizendo."
"The thing I loved about him was that he was always able to reach people that more conventional approaches and Jesuits couldn't reach," LoPresto said.
At memorial services for Hartley, friends and family recalled how the Jesuit was a "fisher of men" and a shepherd who always went after the lost sheep -- because Hartley himself was never quite a conventional man.
In his eight years at Loyola, Hartley has developed close relationships with many students.
"[Hartley] reached out to all different students; you really didn't need to be in a certain niche for him to reach out to you," said senior Caitlin Lynch-Huggins.
Hartley's camaraderie with students also served as a mentorship for many; students would look to him for advice and share their ideas about the world, and Hartley was happy to discuss their thoughts.
"We would talk about music, family, politics, the presidential election ..." said sophomore Carey Beth Robillard.
"Fr. Hartley was very close to a lot of students," said Loyola interim President David Haddad. "[College officials] got together right after Fr. Hartley died trying to make sure we had enough opportunities for students both to worship together, pray together interdenominational because we knew Fr. Hartley reached out in that way."
An avid reader, Hartley often served as a personal librarian for some students, mailing them books while they were abroad and lending others works from his extensive collection.
Often times, he would share music with students as well, accompanying them to clubs like the Funk Box in Federal Hill. Robillard recalled one afternoon when Hartley approached her in the Quad, asked whether she had heard the song "Army of One" by Ani DiFranco, and proceeded to belt out the song for her to listen.
Whether it be in the clubs, in the office or in the chapel, Hartley's love of music was notorious fand constantly demonstrated -- he even sang during his homilies at Loyola's Alumni Chapel -- but friends remembered that for Hartley, music and books all served to affirm his faith in God.
"During the first week of the semester, he had xeroxed a chapter for me from a book on the Immaculate Conception that he wanted me to read. He said for him it was the only thing that made it real and all of a sudden make sense," Lynch-Huggins said.
At Loyola, Hartley spent much of his time teaching students how to pray. He organized evening meetings in Campion Towers where he taught students how to sit still and meditate.
During the first week of school, Hartley attended an Asian thought class where he invited students to join his meditation class.All of the students signed up for the session.
"[Hartley] gave me a new faith in the church to see that he was so free-spirited but still part of the Church," Robillard said. "He was one of the strongest male role models I've had in my life."
"He always showed an interest in getting to know us; whether it was by inviting us to his favorite jazz club or finding out what our plans would be after graduation," said senior Irene Sengendo.
Hartley is survived by his brother, Shawn S. Hartley of Baltimore, a sister, Kathleen Hartley of Glendale, Calif. and a brother, Edward J. Hartley of Cardiff, Calif.
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