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Hilary S. Jurica,
O.S.B.
Museum Founder
 Father
Hilary Jurica, O.S.B. was born in Slovakia on June 19, 1892. His
family moved to the United States when he was a young boy and
moved again from Cloverdale, IL to Chicago where he finished his
elementary education at St. Procopius Parish school. Fr. Hilary
attended that parish's high school and enrolled as a scholastic
in Lisle in 1911. He professed his monastic vows on July 12, 1915.
Fr. Hilary was ordained on May 21, 1921 and he was awarded a doctorate
degree in biology from the University of Chicago on the feast
of St. Benedict, March 21, 1922. Father Hilary was the first monk
of St. Procopius Abbey to attain this academic honor and the first
American Benedictine to receive a doctorate from a secular university.
With his younger brother, Fr. Edmund, he worked for forty years
to elevate the college to the high level for which it continues
to be known. Fr. Hilary, the botanist, and Fr. Edmund, the zoologist,
travelled around the country during the summer months gathering
many of the specimens on display in the Jurica Nature Museum.
They worked closely with other biologists around the country to
bring many treasures to the college's collections. The driving
force behind this collecting was education--the Jurica brothers
were in the forefront of the hands-on education movement. The
specimens were collected and shared for educational purposes and
not for display. In addition, Fr. Hilary and Fr. Edmund worked
with many students to produce the Jurica Biology Charts and accompanying
student worksheets which are still used by high schools and colleges
across the United States.
Father Hilary held memberships in no fewer than 11 science societies
around the United States and for 19 summers he taught courses
at DePaul University, where he directed over 80 masters theses
in biology. Father Hilary was responsible for obtaining for the
college the skeleton of the famous gorilla, Bushman (d. January
1, 1951), who lived at Lincoln Park Zoo and who can be seen at
the Field Museum. Father Hilary also devised innovative ways of
preserving and displaying specimens for his students to study.
He devised both wet and dry methods of displaying many specimens
which are still in use today, both in the biology department and
in the Jurica Nature Museum.
Although not renowned as a demanding teacher, Fr. Hilary was
loved and respected by his students. He received the St. Procopius
College Distinguished Educator Award in 1960.
In addition to his work at the college and collecting specimens,
Fr. Hilary was a priest who worked hard at a job he loved for
49 years at St. Vitus Parish in Chicago where he baptized over
1000 people and witnessed the marriages of more than 250 couples.
He worked with the school children and often took them on street
cars to visit the Field Museum.
At the dedication of the museum in 1971, Right Reverend Daniel
Kucera, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Procopius Abbey, spoke of Fr. Hilary
and added the following:
I could stop here but I have one more point to make because I
am sure Fr. Edmund would never make it. Father Hilary had the
rarest of good fortune. He had a younger brother at his side throughout
his entire life. A good brother that so ably complemented and
assisted him, working side by side as a fellow scientist, a fellow
monk and a fellow priest. Father Edmund's own modesty would prevent
him from saying what a large contribution he made not only to
this college and his community but to Father Hilary himself by
supporting him, by working with him and by encouraging him...
Father Hilary died on February 8, 1970.
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