Courtesy Daniel Br. Stephen Alvey, S.J., who died on May 4, was known for always wearing his white tennis shoes.

His chair sits empty near the entrance of the Wolfington Jesuit Residence now, yet to those who knew Br. Stephen L. Alvey, S.J., his presence will not be forgotten.

Alvey, the greeter at the Jesuit Residence, died on May 4 at age 88 due to a respiratory illness. A member of Georgetown’s Jesuit Community for over 15 years, Alvey came in contact with much of Georgetown’s faculty, staff and students and many said that they were touched by his faith, kindness and wit.

“He was a marvelous character,” Charlotte Daniel, assistant to the Rector in the Jesuit Community, said. “We already miss him greatly when we come to work and see his empty chair.”

Born on December 15, 1915, at the St. Francis Xavier Newton anor, an early Jesuit mission in Maryland where his parents worked as tenant farmers and caretakers, Alvey entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Wernersville, Penn., at age 23. He was ordained as a Jesuit Brother 11 years later in 1949.

Alvey claimed that “his ministry was to do a good deed for someone everyday,” according to a broadcast e-mail issued on ay 5.

“Br. Alvey loved people and enjoyed doing little things to make their lives more pleasant,” Daniel said. “[He had] a quick and clever sense of humor and kept a sharp eye on what was happening in the Jesuit Residence and the university at large.”

Alvey first joined the Jesuit Community at Georgetown from 1966 to 1968 and then returned in 1989, where he remained until his death. In his years of service to the Georgetown community, Alvey worked as the assistant to the minister of the Jesuit community, serving as a driver and a postmaster. He also assisted in the university’s Office of Federal Relations.

In later years, Daniel said he would walk around campus wearing white tennis shoes, visiting with faculty in various departments.

As his health began to falter and he was no longer able to traverse campus easily, he appointed himself the greeter for the Jesuit Residence, and he took to talking with visitors and staff – which sometimes included petsitting Jack the Bulldog – as he sat in a chair by the entrance.

“Not a workday would go by when he didn’t teach me a lesson about faith, family, or growing up. Br. Alvey was a man of extraordinary faith, wisdom and wit,” said Kirk Syme (MSB ’04), an employee at the Jesuit Residence. “I only hope that he knows how many people he inspired during his time here . Georgetown has such a treasure in Br. Alvey.”

Br. Joseph Ritzman, S.J., administer and treasurer of the Jesuit Community, echoed similar sentiments in a speech that he read at Alvey’s wake on May 6.

“Steve was a courageous man who was not afraid to heed the Gospel commandment to love one another,” he said. “He gave his love freely to those around him . By his simple presence, Steve taught us how to laugh and grow strong in our faith.”

Approximately 200 friends, family and acquaintances attended the wake in Dahlgren Chapel. Alvey was buried in the Jesuit cemetery on the morning of May 7.