From early days as a Viatorian in the 1940s through his latter years, Fr. Arnold “Arnie” Perham, CSV was always up to speed on technology, from the early forms of instructional technology to his fluent use of PowerPoint, iPads, and math apps in the modern day. So, it’s fitting that one of our last gifts from Fr. Arnie is a letter – and not one written on paper, but a letter written electronically, sent overseas, and rebroadcast to the global Viatorian Community by our General Council.
Fr. Arnie offered blessings at his first Mass in 1956 (top left), at the early end of a prolific career of education ministry at Cathedral, Loyola Chicago, and Saint Viator.
Recently, leadership wrote to “senior brothers” in gratitude for their example of fidelity and zeal to the Church and the community. A few Viatorians wrote back, and the General Council published these replies in their international newsletter. Fr. Arnie told them – and our international community now, too – that, as he read their greeting, he “felt the many miles between us dissolve.”
The conclusion to his letter captures the legacy he leaves with the community: “My dreams for our Viatorian Community align with your request to give it a ‘radiant and helpful face.’ This means hoping for its continued vitality, faithfulness to its charism, and ability to remain a strong source of support for those we journey alongside, especially the young and those whom society considers of little importance.”
Fr. Arnie died on Saturday, June 21, 2025 in Arlington Heights, Illinois at our Viatorian Province Center, at the age of 95, in his 77th year of religious life and 70th year of priesthood. His Memorial Mass and burial were Wednesday, June 24.
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Fr. Arnie was born in Chicago, just after the financial crash of 1929. He was baptized at St. Viator Church in Chicago, where he’d become an altar boy, learn the faith from Viatorians like Br. Koelzer, Fr. Braddock, Fr. Galvin, and Fr. Cardinal, and be steeped in the ubiquitous Catholicism of the city. When it came time to choose between studying at Illinois Institute of Technology or entering religious formation, Fr. Arnie chose religious life. Yet, he’d never be far from math, science, and education.
This podcast episode from 2022 features a fascinating long-form conversation between Fr. John Eustice, CSV and Fr. Arnie.
He professed first vows in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1956, and he earned degrees from Loyola University Chicago, Catholic University of America, and the University of Notre Dame. In over 77 years of religious life, Fr. Arnie was almost always ministering in education – from his early years at Cathedral High School in Springfield (now Sacred Heart-Griffin) to a short stint at Loyola University Chicago to his prolific service of nearly 60 years to Saint Viator High School.
Fr. Arnie celebrated 50 years of service to Saint Viator High School with the faculty and staff of the community, and then continued in further service – including special projects for Querbes Scholars (top right), tutoring Math Team students (bottom left), and expanding his tutoring to the participants of Viator House of Hospitality (bottom right).
Fr. Arnie was well known for his work as a math teacher and as a tutor in the Saint Viator Math Lab. Even after retirement, he continued mentoring and teaching students in creative ways, including special enrichment projects for Querbes Scholars and supplying specialized tests and study materials for the Math Team.
Around the Province Center, where Fr. Arnie lived in retirement, his steady activity was always apparent. Often, he was busy at the library computer station, feverishly scrolling articles for research and designing problem sets; other times, he’d be away from that desk but the way he left his tablet, file folders, and packets of papers suggested he’d be back soon with more ideas.
Often, he was in search of ongoing faith formation, both for himself and the many people he was always helping to form. In January, the Arlington Heights-Chicago regional leadership team sought a faith formation morning for associates, and they wanted to focus on the Viatorian charism. The choice for presenter was clear. “If Fr. Arnie wasn’t such a gifted teacher, he would have made a great investigative reporter. Everyone who attended the event really enjoyed our time with him and tapping into his deep well of information and experience of the Viatorian Community, charism and mission,” Associate Chris Gucwa said, celebrating Arnie’s knack for research that could so readily collect fascinating tidbits and find engaging ways to share them with others.
Fr. Arnie was a Viatorian who’d seen a lot – born into economic depression, coming of age amid World War II, receiving religious formation from a brother who was a wartime POW, entering seminary during liturgical reform, and living out his priesthood in the unfolding change of Vatican II, not to mention our own Viatorian evolutions, including the advent of association. Yet, he was not one to resist or reject change, even when it was tough.
“These changes have brought both joy and challenges. Yet one truth has remained unwavering: our Viatorian commitment to personal growth, faith, fraternity, and service. Our spirit remains steadfast, sustained by prayer, reflection, and the bond we share. It is this sense of unity, this shared life and mission, that keeps me going,” Fr. Arnie wrote in his recent letter.
May Arnie rest in peace.