Rene Lepage was born in 1939 in Swansea, Massachusetts but soon after, his family moved to nearby Fall River. There were four boys in the family; one died during the first year of life, the others are still living. Even though his parents divorced, his mother made sure that all the boys and her husband went to church regularly.

The family moved to San Pedro, California in 1952 when Rene was in the seventh grade. He attended Dana Jr. High School and San Pedro High School graduating in 1957. During his final high school year, Rene joined the California National Guard. His favorite pastimes were indoor roller skating, square dancing, going to the newly opened Disneyland, and bike riding.

After High School he enrolled in Harbor Jr. College with hopes of working towards an electrical engineering degree. He also worked part time at an army surplus store. During this time, he faithfully practiced his Catholic faith with a special devotion to Mary and daily reading of the bible. He gradually became convinced that God wanted something more from him. “When I was twenty years old, I read in a Catholic Magazine about the work of the Maryknoll Brothers in mission territories so I wrote them asking for information on joining.”

A neighbor told him to visit Dominguez Seminary in Compton, California. This was the seminary for the Claretian Missionaries, founded by St. Anthony Mary Claret in 1849. After making a weekend visit, he moved in and stayed there for a year before going to the major seminary, Claretville, in Malibu Canyon, for another year. He entered the novitiate at Claretville as a Lay Brother and after professing vows in 1962, remained there for another four years wearing many hats: auto repair, bus driver, plumbing, carpentry, electricity, painting, grocery shopping, cooking, etc. “I even took some classes at a local jr. college for welding and auto mechanics.”

In 1966, his last year at Claretville, he helped organize a summer trip to Alamos, Senora, Mexico with a group of students and Claretian Fr. Leo Delgado to do missionary work. He bought a used camera to record the experience. “I came to enjoy the art of developing negatives and printing the pictures myself.” The next year, 1967, he was assigned to Dominguez Seminary and was asked to organize another trip to Mexico. At Dominguez Seminary, he continued to do maintenance work and auto repair as well as teaching classes in mathematics and drafting. Three years later he volunteered to go to the Claretian mission in the Philippines where he stayed for six years. “I took a lot of pictures there and gave many away making friends.”

After returning to the U.S., he was assigned to pastoral work in Lamar, Colorado for a year. Then he was sent to Los Angeles to make preparations for establishing a new mission in Africa in the country of Nigeria. He spent eight years there working with a local diocesan press as a mechanic and typesetter. He also did invaluable maintenance work in a newly built Claretian Seminary and farm. He is still remembered there for his tireless dedication to the upkeep of the place.

When the Province chose Cameroon Africa as a new mission, he was the first to sign up. But after three years, a physical injury there put an end to his foreign mission assignments. He returned to Los Angeles, California to the Claretian Renewal Center doing what he like best, “fixing things.” He gradually moved into more administrative tasks including assistant Provincial Treasurer. He was later elected by his fellow Claretians to be the Treasurer for the whole province. Now he has returned to Dominguez Seminary where it all started. The place is now a retirement community and Bro. Rene, together with other Claretian retirees, prays for the on-going work of the Claretian Congregation. Still, when something breaks down, he is still the first one they call to get his advice and experience.