John Serena, a longtime member of Our Lady Help of Christians parish, Midwood, died March 24 after a long illness.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 27 at the parish church.

He was president of the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn in 1987 and also was active in the Emerald Association of Long Island and HeartShare.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, and their children, John Jr., David, Christopher, Barbara, Carol, and Mary Therese; and his sister, Ann Klemmer.

Burial was in St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale, L.I.

Jon Hassler, an award-winning novelist and a professor emeritus of fiction at St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn., died March 20 at Methodist Hospital in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, 10 days shy of his 75th birthday. He had suffered for more than a decade from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder that causes serious and permanent problems with control of gait and balance.

A funeral Mass was celebrated March 27 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Hassler had graduated from St. John’s in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He was writer in residence at the university from 1980 until his retirement in 1997.

Hassler specialized in writing about small-town life in Minnesota. Hassler, born in Minneapolis in 1933, lived in Staples (current population 3,104) for 10 years before moving with his family to Plainview (current population 3,190), where he graduated from high school.

His “Staggerford” won the novel of the year award in 1978 from the Friends of American Writers.

He wrote a series of “Staggerford” novels, including “The New Woman,” “The Staggerford Murders” and “The Staggerford Flood.” He also penned “My Staggerford Journal,” which chronicled the creative process he used in fiction writing.

Another Hassler novel, 1987’s “Grand Opening,” was chosen as best fiction of the year by the Society of Midland Authors.

In addition to adult fiction, Hassler wrote novels for young adults.

back to top