Father Moritz
Fuchs will appear in a 50th anniversary memorial service in tribute to Jamestown
area citizen Robert H. Jackson at 10 a.m. Sunday, October 3, at St. Luke’s
Church, 410 North Main Street, Jamestown.
St. Luke’s Church is the site of the original funeral honoring Jackson
fifty years ago at his untimely death at the age of 62. On October 13, l954,
after services at the Washington National Cathedral, Supreme Court Justice
and Chief American Prosecutor at Nuremberg Robert H. Jackson was brought home
to be buried from St. Luke’s Church.
Jackson is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery on Frew Run Road, Frewsburg, N.Y.
Father Fuchs was serving in the United States Army in Germany during and after
World War II. While there, he became Justice Jackson’s bodyguard at
Nuremberg and was with Jackson during Jackson’s eighteen months of service
at Nuremberg.
Shortly after an honorable discharge in 1947, Moritz Fuchs became a Catholic
priest. Father Fuchs served in that capacity for more than 50 years, eventually
retiring from the priesthood in 2001. He now lives in Fulton, New York.
Father Fuchs visited the Jackson Center on March 21, 2002, as a guest of the
St. Thomas More Guild, and spoke before an audience in the Carl Cappa Auditorium.
Father Fuchs discussed what it was like getting to know Justice Jackson on
a one-on-one level during his time at Nuremberg.
Father Fuchs has returned twice more to the Jackson Center, most notably at
the May, 2003, dedication of the Center in which he led the audience in prayer
and shared the dais with Chief Justice of the United States William H. Rehnquist,
a former law clerk to Jackson at the Supreme Court.
St. Luke’s Church Associate Rector Susan A. Williams notes that Father
Fuchs will deliver the homily at the special service commemorating Jackson’s
funeral fifty years ago in Jamestown. The Reverend Williams takes pride in
knowing that Jackson maintained his membership at St. Luke’s after moving
to Washington for his career.
“St. Luke’s and the Robert H. Jackson Center welcome the public
to attend this memorial service at the church from which Jackson was buried,”
says The Reverend Williams.
According to Jackson Center Board President Gregory L. Peterson, other participants
at the service in addition to Father Fuchs, and the St. Luke’s pastors,
The Reverend Eric M. Williams and The Reverend Susan A. Williams, will be
Jackson colleague and fellow Nuremberg prosecutor Whitney Harris. Also taking
part will be Jackson grandson Thomas Loftus, III; Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow
John Q. Barrett; and Charles Price, Esquire, one of the pallbearers in the
original funeral.
“All the Supreme Court Justices came to Jamestown on a train to attend
the funeral,” explained Mr. Peterson. “National attention was
focused on Jamestown, New York, on that day in October fifty years ago.”
Jackson Center Executive Director Rolland E. Kidder noted that the memorial
tribute at St. Luke’s ends a weekend of activity involving Nuremberg
Prosecutor Whitney Harris at the Jackson Center.
“Mr. Harris will speak at noon, Friday, October l, in the Carl Cappa
Auditorium at the Jackson Center. Copies of his book, The Tragedy of War will
be distributed free-of-charge to those who attend,” said Mr. Kidder.
Lunch following the speech is also provided at no cost. Sponsors making the
events possible include the Jamestown Bar Association, MRC Bearings and SKF
and Young Title Agency.
The Robert H. Jackson Center is located at 305 East Fourth Street, Jamestown,
and at wwwroberthjackson.org. The St. Luke’s Church address is 410 North
Main Street, Jamestown and StLuke@madbbs.com.