Father James Martin, S.J., the oldest living Jesuit in the United States, will celebrate his 100th birthday this Friday on campus with friends and relatives from across the country.
Throughout his 68-year ministry, Martin has served at Georgetown University twice. He first worked as the Assistant Dean of Men and the Assistant Dean of Athletics from 1939 to 1940. He later served as a Retreat Master at Georgetown from 1972 to 1983.
Martin has lived in the on-campus Jesuit residence since 1988.
Martin said that he likes Georgetown both because it is the first Catholic college established in the United States and also because it was one of the first places he served.
After his first assignment at the University, Martin left the school to serve as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He worked in Africa, Egypt, Sicily, Italy and France from 1942-1946.
While serving as an army chaplain, Martin said that he found “a lot of joy and faith in what our men were doing.”
On returning to the University, Martin helped build the Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, Md, 35 miles outside of the District of Columbia. Martin planned and ran this retreat center which Georgetown students still visit today.
According to Charlotte Daniel, administrative assistant to the Rector, Martin is very respected in the Jesuit community.
Father Brian McDermott, S.J., the Rector of the Georgetown Jesuit community, said, “[Martin] is an extraordinary Jesuit. He’s still full of lots of life. ? He’s very involved with many members of the community. He manages to get off campus, too. He’s deeply beloved by the community.”
