By Toni Jane Pallatto - St. Theresa School (Little Flower)

Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO

Father Val LaFrance, Dominican preacher, spent many winters in Miami.

MIAMI � Father Val LaFrance, a Dominican priest known around the world for his powerful preaching as well as his personal testimony as a recovering alcoholic, died July 2 St. Dominic Priory in Washington, D.C., after a period of failing health.

Father LaFrance, who would have turned 90 in August, spent many winters in Miami and traced his priestly vocation to the comment of a fellow drama teacher and Dominican nun at Barry University in the late 1940s. In 2008, he marked his 50th anniversary in the priesthood and retired from active ministry, although not completely.

�The reason why I�m still going is look at what God has done for me,� he said in a Florida Catholic profile that ran in February 2009. �I got it all out. Now you see I�m trying to give it back to him. I love him so much because he has loved me so much.�

Father LaFrance was best known for a preaching style described as combining the eloquence of Bishop Sheen with the biting humor of Don Rickles. "Catholic Focus" wrote that he "breaks down generational barriers through his vast understanding of the human condition and makes people admit their reluctance to be honest about whom they really are."

A long-time friend and admirer recently noted that "it was impossible for any listener to escape the velvet gloves of his penetrating insight and rapier-like wit as he both touched hearts and tickled funny bones.�

A recovering addict with more than a quarter-century of sobriety behind him, Father LaFrance delivered and recorded hundreds of lectures on the subject of "Alcoholism as a Family Disease" and received the "Courage to Change" Award from the National Council on Alcoholism.

He was born in Manchester, N.H. on Aug. 7, 1921, one of 10 children of State Representative Edward T. La France and Odie Perry. After serving in the Air Force during World War II, he pursued a successful career in professional theater, even training at The Royal Academy of Drama in London, England.

He appeared in and directed stage plays, musicals and operettas, including Gilbert & Sullivan, Shakespeare, Moliere and Oscar Wilde, both in repertory and on the road, nationally and internationally. He also taught theater and directed plays at Miami�s Gesu High School, Barry University and the University of Miami.

In 1951, he entered the Dominican Province of St. Joseph at St. Stephen Priory, Dover, Mass., and was ordained June 5, 1958 at St. Dominic Church in Washington, D.C. His various ministries over the years included parish assignments in New Haven, Conn., Johnson City, Tenn., and Columbia, S.C. He also served his order as assistant master of novices, professor of preaching and Gregorian chant, teacher of psychology and ethics and professor of speech and preaching.

From the earliest days of his priesthood, however, Father LaFrance embarked on his seminal vocation as an itinerant preacher � in his words, "anywhere, anytime, to any group." That eventually included lay people, men and women religious, priests, prisoners, addicts, military personnel and members of various religious denominations. He typically spent 40 weeks or more on the road each year.

Throughout his ministry, he blended his acting techniques into what he referred to as the then "accepted preaching methods," developing the unique presentation style that led to a fulltime itinerary throughout the nation.

After attracting the attention of his superiors, he was appointed Provincial Secretary of Preaching for the Dominicans. In this position, he developed a cadre of young priests who, in his words, "caught on to the fact that the word of God need not be pounded out only with biblical formality, but can be packaged in a manner both informative and entertaining." This concept resulted in full churches wherever he appeared.

As an enduring tribute to him, the Pontifical Faculty of Theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., includes a "Father Val LaFrance Preaching Studio" where future candidates for the Dominican priesthood are trained.

There is no practical way of estimating the number of presentations Father LaFrance made, in person and through the mass media, but it is safe to say that many millions of men, women and children were touched by his wit and wisdom.

�Father Val was a man of great faith who never tired of sharing God�s love and preaching his word,� said Mary Huey, a parishioner at St. Maximilian Kolbe in Pembroke Pines. �He made it his personal mission to help people with addictions and touched the lives of millions. He will be sorely missed.�

He is survived by two siblings, Alice C. Kelley, of Manchester, N.H., William LaFrance, of Fort Myers, numerous nieces and nephews, and a countless throng of friends, fans and spiritual beneficiaries.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated July 7 at St. Dominic Church, with burial following at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, both in Washington D.C. The family will celebrate a memorial Mass on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral in Manchester, N.H. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Father LaFrance�s name to: The Dominican Fathers Center for Assisted Living, 630 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20024.