Date of death: 12/14/2017
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1963
Indianapolis – Reverend Robert Easton Mazzola, 80 years young, died suddenly on Thursday, December 14, 2017, at his home, from an apparent heart attack. While under a doctor’s care, his death was unexpected. Fr. Mazzola was born on May 26, 1937, in Bloomington, Indiana to Arthur Joseph and Elizabeth Rose Easton Mazzola. He was baptized on June 2, 1937, at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, in Bloomington, Indiana. After his family moved to Connersville, Indiana, he attended St. Gabriel Parochial School, for eight years of grade school, from September 1943 through May 1951. During this time, he received the Sacraments of First Holy Eucharist on October 27, 1944, and of Confirmation in March of 1947. Following the eighth grade, Fr. Mazzola entered the Saint Meinrad Seminary on Monday, September 10, 1951, and for the next twelve years, he attended high school, college, and Theology. On Sunday, May 5, 1963, at Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, he was Ordained to the Priesthood. During his Priesthood, Fr. Mazzola was assigned as the assistant pastor of St. Francis deSales, while concurrently serving as a part_time instructor at Scecina High School, both of Indianapolis, until May of 1964. He was then temporarily assigned as assistant pastor pro tem, SS. Mary & Michael parishes in Madison, Indiana, with Our Lady of Sorrows mission, in Vevay, Indiana. From 1964 through 1969, Fr. Mazzola served as the assistant pastor of St. Michael parish in Charlestown, Indiana, along with the mission parish St. Francis Xavier in Henryville, Indiana. He then returned to his home parish of St. Gabriel, in Connersville, Indiana from 1969 through 1973, serving as an assistant pastor. After temporarily serving as assistant pastor at St. Andrew parish in Richmond, he was later re_assigned to St. Rose of Lima parish, in Franklin, Indiana, from 1974 till 1983, as well as serving as Catholic Chaplain of Franklin College. In July of 1983, he returned to Richmond to serve as the pastor of St. Andrew parish, while concurrently serving as the Catholic Chaplain of Earlham College. On July 7, 1983, while remaining the pastor of St. Andrew parish, he subsequently was appointed pastor of St. Mary and Holy Family parishes, also located in Richmond. In 1995, Fr. Mazzola took a sabbatical in Israel, and upon his return in August of that year, he was assigned as pastor of St. Michael parish in Greenfield, Indiana until December 1997. In early 1998, Fr. Mazzola was appointed to be the Auditor for the Metropolitan Tribunal for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, located at the Catholic Center, while holding residences at St. Gabriel and St. Matthew parishes in Indianapolis. Fr. Mazzola was a member of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission from 1973 through 1986, as well as serving three years on the Archdiocesan Council of Priests until 1994. He remained at the Metropolitan Tribunal until his retirement in 2011.