Fr. John Milton died Jan. 24, 2022 at Northwest Community Hospital. He was 92. He was born Oct. 28, 1929 in Chicago, the son of John and Mary Gorman Milton. He is survived by his brother George and sister-in-law, as well as two nephews and a niece and their families.
Fr. Milton graduated high school in 1947 from Fournier Institute of Technology in Lemont, IL. He was among the first group of brothers to profess vows at the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights after it opened in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1957.
He held a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Fournier Institute and a MS degree in Physics from St. Louis University. Fr. Milton taught at Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield (1953-54), Spalding Institute in Peoria (1959-60), Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights (1963-65) and Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee (1967-68). He returned to teach physics at Saint Viator from 1968 to 1986.
He served as Director of Novices from 1986 to 1991, before teaching part-time at DePaul University in 1987. He became a full-time professor in 1991 and taught until 2010, when he was awarded the Via Sapientiae Award, the highest faculty-staff honor at DePaul.
Fr. Milton retired to the Viatorian Province Center residence in Arlington Heights, and while in retirement, he was a weekend celebrant at St. Zachary Parish in Des Plaines. Fr. Milton also served as a consultant to the physics program at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, where he helped establish its AP science programs.
Visitation and a Mass of Christian Burial took place Feb. 1 at the Viatorian Province Center. He was interred at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.