When it came to gang activity and the need for youth advocates in Greenville’s inner city, perhaps no time period compared to the early 1990s. As headlines splashed across this publication and others about violence and delinquency, the community received a ram in the bush in the form of Joseph Matthaeus Connors as those connected to Sacred Heart Church affectionately would say, “Brother Matt.” Connors died at the age of 83 in Techny, Illinois on May 6. According to a post on the Society of Divine World Chicago Province’s Facebook page, “Connor saw the power and poverty of others in graffiti and decay in Greenville and his response led to change.”
One of Sacred Heart’s longtime parishioners, Lewis Slay said, “Brother Matt’s position would have been equivalent to a head deacon or minister of music or even a youth minister in other denominations.”
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Connor used his platform and sanctity of the church to win the trust of some of the city’s most impressionable youth more than 30 years ago. The reports of his exploits were many as he became a mediator between rival gangs, a mentor to young men and an advocate for empathy. Among many exercises of his faith and duty, Connor would help create an amnesty program between the Greenville Police Department and local gangs, provide a shelter and safe haven for those who were targets of violence and neglect and minister to young men through athletic activities such as basketball. For a generation of boys who have now reached middle age, Connor’s impact and legacy are indelibly ingrained into who they have become. “One of the most memorable happenings about Brother Matt came back in 2014,” Slay said. “Several of the boys he had mentored paid his way so that he could come back and celebrate our centennial.
The neighborhood around the church which included Railroad Avenue, Gloster, Orange and Elizabeth streets was the epicenter of Connor’s outreach where he put his faith into action by feeding and clothing young men in need.
One of Connor’s constituents in the Techny area summed up the life and times of a man called for a perfect purpose. Adam McDonald wrote, “Well done, good and faithful servant of God. Come share in your Master’s joy.”
