Fr. Florian (George) Fairbanks, O.S.B., died on May 14, 2000, after a long battle with congestive heart failure. He had been strengthened with the Sacraments of the Dying. Fr. Florian was 91 years old. George Leonard Fairbanks was born October 17, 1908, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the middle son of five, born to William and Catherine (Strong) Fairbanks. Two older brothers died as infants and the two younger brothers have preceded him in death.

George was raised in Red Lake, MN. He received his secondary and college education at St. John's Abbey, Collegeville. He came to Assumption Abbey in 1931 and professed vows as a monk of this Abbey July 11, 1933, receiving the name Florian. He completed his seminary studies at the Abbey and was ordained a priest on May 14, 1939.

Fr. Florian has broken all records for longevity for the community of Assumption Abbey. No monk in the history of this Abbey has ever reached his age (91), his years of monastic profession (66), or of ordination (he died on the 61st anniversary day of his ordination).

Gifted with so many years, Fr. Florian has also been a gift to many. He spent several years working at various positions at the Abbey, but most of his years as a monk he spent in pastoral ministry--55 years! His first assignment, in 1940, was to Saints Peter and Paul in Strasburg, ND. This was followed by brief assignments to Salem, SD, Bowman, ND and Alexander, ND. In 1955 he became pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Solen, ND. He was moved to Sacred Heart in Glen Ullin in 1960 where he remained until 1967 when he became pastor of Saint Anthony's Parish in St. Anthony, ND--a position he held for over 30 years.

He returned to the Abbey to retire a month before his 89th birthday, September, 1997. Wherever Fr. Florian served he was well-loved, and not surprisingly, since his philosophy of pastoral ministry, as he himself stated it, was simply: ""I just love the people of any parish I'm sent to and they seem to love me back.''

A Vigil Service was held on Tuesday evening, May 16, and a Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in the Abbey Church at 10:30 AM, May 17. Interment was in the Abbey Cemetery.