Chaplain Jake Laboon, a servant leader, has blessed my life and ministry. In my early ministry as a navy chaplain, he defined the vision and mission for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, where I worked. His monthly meetings with the chaplains provided opportunities to be mentored and receive assistance as we wrestled with challenges that threatened to overwhelm us. Jake opened doors in the community for me to preach in pluralistic settings of religious diversity. He gave me my first opportunity to preach in a Roman Catholic church, one of the few times a Seventh-Day Adventist has had that privilege.

Early...

The small town of Woodstock, Maryland, had never seen anything like it. The famous and the prominent from both church and state had come together on a hot but dry August day to bid farewell to a priest, naval officer, mentor, brother, and friend. Together with this cadre of American elites were hundreds of ordinary parishioners at the small church of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez who also came to pay their respects to their pastor. Although not long in their presence, he had nonetheless endeared himself to all because of his great faith, solid example of a positive life, and many...

In religion and society relationships flow from the context—physical, social, religious, and familial—in which people are born and raised. The physical environment that influenced the life of John Francis Laboon Jr. was formative in ways that were both obvious and subtle. Pittsburgh, today a bustling metropolitan city of approximately 305,000, the largest urban center in Western Pennsylvania, was the basic physical environment that he experienced in his early years. The city, set on a plateau to the west of the northern reaches of the Appalachian Mountains, is located at the confluence of three great rivers: the Allegheny, Monongahela,...

The seed for the life and ministry of Jake Laboon had been planted in the city of Pittsburgh, but in order for it to mature and blossom he needed to leave the tranquility of his home and venture into the world. For Jake Laboon the initial challenge was military service, made more acute especially after the September 1, 1939, German blitzkrieg into Poland, which led eventually to American participation in World War II. It was time for him to go forth into a new arena of life—to take up the challenge, morally, physically, and intellectually, at the U.S. Naval...

The naval academy class of 1944 graduated at a time when the United States was once again embroiled in a world war, fighting a two-front conflict against the Axis powers in Europe and the Pacific. The war had already affected the Laboon family when John Laboon Sr. left the comfort of his position with Allegheny County to serve as a military governor in Italy. The war would come home even more graphically through the service of its eldest son, who was in harm’s way for the last eighteen months of the conflict. Volunteering in submarines, Jake Laboon held a strong...

While the United States’ victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898 had thrust the country onto the world scene as a major player, there is no doubt that it was the Second World War that caused America to emerge as leader of the free world. The euphoria of winning the war and the nation’s new status as a world power gave the American people a sense of confidence on a level they had never previously enjoyed. For the average citizen the immediate postwar period was a time when families began to grow and prosper and individual initiatives in education and...

Commissioned to serve his nation as an officer in the U.S. Navy, Jake answered a longstanding, but recently stronger call from God by entering the Society of Jesus. Ordained a Jesuit priest in 1956, he decided, with the approval of his religious superiors, to combine his two former commissions, one to the nation and a second to God into service of God and country as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. Serving the church as a navy chaplain was a natural fit for one who loved God, country, and the U.S. Navy. The fact that he was the only navy...

Navy personnel are basically seafarers, but for the career man, assignments at sea and ashore come with time. So too was the reality for chaplains like Jake Laboon. While Laboon’s initial assignment led him to ride several submarines in an effort to better understand the routine and challenges of the men he served, his ministry largely concentrated on service to SSBN crews in port and their families—especially their pastoral and sacramental needs. As his career unfolded during the bulk of the 1960s, Jake Laboon’s service ran the gamut. He began as a circuit-rider priest, serving a variety of at-sea...

Returning to one’s college or university alma mater is a significant event that brings great satisfaction through the many memories of people, events, and trusted friendships that provided the springboard from which one vaults into professional life. Generally one returns to his alma mater for the annual homecoming football game, class reunions, and possibly simply to visit. Few are ever given the privilege to return in a more official capacity as a teacher, administrator, or some other more permanent position. Because of the nature of the institution, the naval academy does provide the opportunity for select military personnel to return...

The social unrest that marked the 1960s in the United States was anchored in the nation’s participation in an unpopular war in Vietnam. The length of the conflict, manifested most notably in a continually growing military presence in the area, the apparent lack of progress toward a victorious end, and the morality or, some critics would say, immorality of American involvement in the region, combined with the general disarray of the decade, was a recipe for significant unrest in the United States in general and, more specifically, in the military-industrial complex. The war destroyed the political career of President Lyndon...

Having completed more than ten years of service in the chaplain corps and now having achieved senior rank status, Jake Laboon was ready for positions of greater authority. His broad experience, knowledge of the navy and the military life, and the high respect with which he was held by all, from the most junior to the most senior, were his qualifications. Following his well-respected tour in Vietnam, Jake gained his first experience with naval aviation by his assignment as senior Catholic chaplain at the Saufley Field Naval Air Station, Florida. Recall that as a midshipman at the naval academy he...

The highly competitive pyramid-shaped journey to the top that characterizes American society is familiar to all. At the wide and abundant space at the base of the pyramid, participants begin the climb to the top. Time, expertise, good fortune, and knowledge of policies and individuals are some of the major factors that determine one’s progress. As time passes the number of high-level positions decrease, always remaining less than the number of competitors. For the business person the goal is a position in administration or possibly even the top slot of president or chief executive officer. The military has its own...

In November 1980, Jake Laboon found it necessary to take off the uniform and all the trappings required or implied therein and dress himself in clerical attire alone. Certainly he had always been a priest, but the roles of navy chaplain and of a Jesuit serving a civilian population were vastly different, requiring significant adjustment of methods and ways of thinking. For many, especially those in religious life who experience a significant transition from one ministry or way of life to a vastly different one, a sabbatical is often helpful to ease the accommodation process. Jake was excited about the...

All men and women must one day succumb to the reality of physical death, but for the privileged few a significant legacy remains. Funerals are times when eulogies and various words of remembrance are uttered by family and friends, but with time and the fading of memories what was said and the sentiments behind them are lost. By most standards today, Jake Laboon died before his time. Not even seventy years old and one who always kept himself in good physical condition, his rather rapid journey to death’s door and his passage through it on August 1, 1988, was certainly...