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In Memoriam

Father Klaiber was highly loved and regarded as an academic, a teacher, a counselor, and a much-appreciated Jesuit.

Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Jeffrey L. Klaiber, SJ, who died on March 4, 2014, in La Clinica Stella Maris in Lima, Peru, due to complications following recent heart surgery. He was 71 years old, a Jesuit for 52 years, and a priest for 39 years. May he rest in peace.

Father Klaiber was born on January11, 1943, in Indianapolis. He entered the Society of Jesus on September 1, 1961, at Milford, Ohio. He was ordained a priest on June 9, 1974, in Chicago, and he professed final vows on April 22, 1980, in Lima, Peru.

Father Klaiber attended Marquette University for one year before entering the Chicago Province. He did much of his formation in the Peru Province (including part of his novitiate, his juniorate, and his philosophy studies). He was able to study classics at the Institute de Humanidades (at Catholic University) in Lima, Peru, and have the coursework accepted by Loyola University Chicago (LUC). He earned a bachelor’s degree in classics from LUC in 1967, and a master’s degree in history from LUC in 1968. The title of his master’s thesis was “From the Popular Universities to the Peruvian Aprista Movement.” Father Klaiber studied theology at Bellarmine College in North Aurora, Ill. (1971-1973). He studied for and he earned a PhD in history from Catholic University in Washington, DC (1973-1976).

Father Klaiber worked at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis during his regency (1970-1971). From 1976 until the present, he was a professor of history at the Catholic University in Lima, Peru. From 1996 to 2000, he was the head of the Humanities Department at Catholic University in Lima. Father Klaiber was also a professor of theology and a counselor at the University of El Pacifico in Lima (1977-1982). In addition to teaching at the Catholic University, he was a professor of history at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima from 2004 until the present. Father Klaiber served as a visiting professor at Georgetown University (1990-1991), Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia (2000-2001), and Boston College (2006-2008). Recently, he was decorated for his years in education and the qualities of his writings about the history of the Church and the Society of Jesus in Peru.

Father Klaiber was highly loved and regarded as an academic, a teacher, a counselor, and a much-appreciated Jesuit. He was the recipient of the “Best Teacher Award” for many years. Father Klaiber was known for his writing of the history of the Church in Latin America and the history of the Society of Jesus in Peru. He felt very strongly that he and his students should study the Peruvian political developments and various governmental turn-overs during the 20th century. Father Klaiber would be contacted by the media to talk about the Church’s view for social or political phenomenon.

Father Klaiber also knew how to balance his research, teaching, writing, and pastoral outreach. For many years he did pastoral work in one of the chapels of the Jesuit parish Virgen de Nazareth in the El Augustino district of Lima.

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