Father Ernest De Gaspari, 88, was born in Milan, Italy on 24th March 1996.
Ernest joined the Salesian missionary aspirantate (minor seminary) at Ivrea, Italy at the age of 21.
At the completition of his years of aspirantate, he was sent to Australia as a missionary, arriving in Oakleigh in 1962 to begin his year of novitiate.
On 31st January 1963, he made his first profession in the society of Francis De Sales, and he made his final profession on 31st January 1969 at Lysterfield, Australia.
After his ordination he worked as the Bursar for some four years after a short stint as a teacher, both at the Salesian school at Sunbury.
During his years in Australia, Fr Ernie, as he was affectionately called, managed to become a citizen of Australia, thus holding dual citizenship for the rest of his life.
When Project Africa” was launched in 1978 by the 21st General Chapter of the Salesians, Fr, Ernest discerned a call within a call, to offer himself to be a missionary in a more challenging context.
By mid-1979, the then five provinces of India had identified 15 Salesians who would begin the Salesian mission in Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan.
In December 1980, when the three Salesians from India travelled to Juba, Fr Ernie flew in from Cairo to join them in Juba and eventually to travel together to Maridi
In 1982, exactly after 450 days of the Salesian presence in Maridi, when the Salesians had to leave, they were involved in an accident on the way to Juba, in which Fr. Ernie suffered some serious head injuries. He had to be airlifted to Nairobi, courtesy of Bishop Augusto Barone of Juba.
After almost a year of break, when the Salesians returned to the Sudan in March 1983, Fr. Ernie joined Fr. James Pulickal in beginning the Salesian mission in Tonj.
Their stay was soon disrupted by the civil war that began to gather momentum by October 1984, Fr. Ernie helped to evacuate the Salesian sisters out of Tonj and took them to Wau and returned to Tonj to be with Fr. James.
From 1997 until 2015, for a period of almost two decades, he worked among the three communities of St. Joseph’s VTC in Khartoum, St. Joseph’s parish also in Khartoum.
By 2015, Fr. Ernie, aged 79 joined the community of Don Bosco Utume as a confessor.
During these years, his health began to deteriorate as his insomnia became more and more acute.
On 12th May 2024, when the community members went to Nyahururu, Kenya for their annual retreat, he insisted to join them.
Seeing his frail condition, Fr Mark, who was very close to him, took him to a doctor to have a medical review before proceeding for the retreat.
The doctor gave a clean verdict, and Fr Ernie travelled with the rest. However at the retreat centre he began to develop complications.
He was, therefore, rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for three days before being referred to Nairobi.
Once at the Nairobi hospital, he was admitted at the HDU section and was diagnosed with having pneumonia, a weak heart and acute fatigue due to poor food intake. Even with the concerted treatment to deal with the medical complications, Fr. Ernie’s condition began to fluctuate.
Eventually on 26th May 2024, Sunday at around 1 pm, Fr Ernest De Gaspari breathed his last, in the presence of two Salesians.
