Brother Michael Yerkes
Veteran teacher at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen
Brother Michael Yerkes, a Brother of the Sacred Heart, died at the age of 78 on Nov. 6, 2018, in Bayside, N.Y.
Brother Michael was born in New York City on Sept. 27, 1940 to the late Elizabeth and Frank Yerkes. He graduated from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Elementary in Manhattan and from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. He then entered the juniorate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Metuchen, N.J., in 1958, made his first profession of vows in 1960, and then his perpetual profession in 1966.
After graduating from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in history, he went on to earn his master's in education in 1972 from Iona College, New Rochelle, N.Y. He also studied theology and history at St. John's University, the University of Notre Dame, Monmouth College, and the Taft Institute.
Brother Michael's teaching career began in 1962 at St. Francis Elementary in Metuchen. From there he also had ministry assignments at St. Joseph Elementary in the Bronx and at Bishop Reilly High School in Fresh Meadows, N.Y., where he served as a teacher and assistant principal from 1964 to 1971. In 1971 he was assigned to St. Joseph High School in Metuchen and spent the remainder of his teaching career there, finally retiring in 2015. In retirement, Brother Michael spent the last few years of his life as a member of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart community in East Elmhurst, N.Y.
Brother Michael is survived by his three sisters: Mary Yerkes of New York City, Margaret (Peg) Williams of Morristown, N.J., and Catherine (Cate) Scully of Bowie, Md.
Visitation will be Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018 from 7 to 9 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, 568 Middlesex Ave. (Rt. 27), Metuchen. Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated on Monday at 1 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen; interment will follow at Brothers Cemetery at St. Joseph, Metuchen.