Fr. Philip Louis Bourret 94, died January 29, 2008, at Regis
Infirmary, Sacred Heart Jesuit
Center, Los Gatos. He had been a Jesuit for 78 years
and a priest for 66 years.
Phil was born in Seattle,
Washington, on April 14, 1913. He
attended Bellarmine Prep, San Jose, Seattle
Prep, and St. Ignatius
High School, San
Francisco, where he graduated in 1929. He entered the
novitiate at Los Gatos
on September 7, 1929. Philosophy studies were taken at Mount St. Michael’s, Spokane. Regency was done
at Loyola High School, Los Angeles, 1937-38, where
Phil taught physics. Theology studies were taken at Alma
College, Los Gatos, 1938-42, and Phil
was ordained to the priesthood in San
Francisco on June 7, 1941.
Following his theology studies, Phil taught physics and
religion at Bellarmine Prep, San Jose, 1942-44, followed by tertianship at Port
Townsend, Washington, 1944-45. Phil was assigned to the China Mission and was
to inaugurate and teach in an engineering school in Nanjing. Wartime conditions precluded his
going, so he pursued special studies in electrical engineering at Stanford University in preparation for the
position. He earned his MSEE degree in 1947. The tenuous political situation in
China
further delayed his departure and he taught physics and mathematics at Seattle
University, 1948-49, and then devoted the next year to purchasing war surplus
equipment for the proposed school.
Phil finally arrived in Asia
in June 1950, where he spent a year teaching mathematics and physics on a
Fulbright Scholarship at the Ateneo de Manila. With China
now closed, he returned to the States in the following May to dispose of the
mountains of equipment he had stored at various depositories in California. He returned to
Manila in
November 1953 and began the study of Chinese. His language studies were often
interrupted by his activity in acquiring electronic and scientific equipment
for various Jesuit schools.
In the fall of 1953, Phil became Minister of the Jesuit residence
at Hsinchu, Taiwan, and from 1954-56, he served
as associate pastor of the Jesuit parish there. Phil sharpened his engineering
skills by working in a Chinese government battery factory in Taipei, and then began an apostolate in
broadcasting, the foundation for an enterprise that continues today.
In 1957, starting in an abandoned tool shed in Taichung, Phil set up a
broadcasting studio to make quality taped programs for airing on local radio
stations. The programs aimed at translating basic Christian beliefs for a vast
general audience. The presentation was indirect and non-sectarian, but the core
content was Christian. In 1958, the enterprise was relocated to Taipei, and renamed Kuang
Chi Programming Service. In addition to program production, the studio trained
technicians and taught teachers how to use television in the classroom. Today, KPS
now provides video programming for satellite distribution throughout Asia.
Phil returned to California
in 1968 and busied himself with equipment gathering and media consultation for
Catholic radio and televisions stations worldwide. He filled warehouses with
radio and television transmitters, satellite dishes, and all the necessary
equipment to operate studios and shipped them to every country in South and Central
America, the Philippines, Taiwan, and anywhere
bishops and religious orders were attempting to use radio and television to
instruct and entertain. Eventually he added much of Eastern
Europe to his area of concern. In his later years he limited
himself to consultation and was constantly on the go, traveling to Brazil one week, Poland
the next, then back to California by way of Haiti and Bolivia. By his account, the
results included 40 radio and 20 television stations in Latin America, one
television and 10 radio stations in the Philippines,
and 50 FM radio stations in Poland.
In 1979, on the occasion of Phil’s jubilee, Fr. General
Arrupe commented, “Your work has been hidden and sometimes misunderstood, but
your all-out blind trust in Divine Providence
has paid rich dividends to those in need.” Phil’s determination and stamina
amazed all who knew him; it was only in the last few months that he slowed
down. No longer able to hop on the next plane out, he nevertheless kept in
constant contact with his confreres around the world by cell phone. May he rest
in peace.
Daniel Peterson SJ