Father Matt Flood, S.J.

Father Matt Flood, S.J., an educator and musician, died March 7 at Murray-Weigel Hall in the Bronx. He was 85.

In 1962 he began a long tenure at Fordham Prep in the Bronx where he taught theology, German and Spanish. From 1999 to 2010 he taught a reduced schedule and served as an assistant librarian and assistant chaplain there.

He taught German at his alma mater, Xavier High School, Manhattan, from 1953 to 1956, and then began three years of theology studies.

Many summers he traveled to St. Otto parish in Nuremburg, Germany, to assist as well as improve his German skills. He spent 1970-1971 in Mainz, Germany, studying the language. He also studied Spanish, completing his master’s degree in Spanish at Fordham University in 1987. This enabled him to preside at Spanish liturgies in the New York area. He also took a sabbatical, 1993-1994, first at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., and then for one semester in Spain.

He had an abiding love of music, singing in the famed St. Cecilia Chorus of New York and serving as musical director for Fordham Prep dramatic productions for many years.

Born in the Bronx, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1946 and professed final vows in 1963. He was ordained a priest at Fordham University Church in 1961. His brother, Msgr. William Flood, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, survives him.

A Funeral Mass was offered March 10 at Murray-Weigel Hall. Burial was in the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville,