Remembering Mike Dubruiel

The news came yesterday evening that Michael Dubruiel, an acquisition editor for Our Sunday Visitor for nine years, had died after collapsing at the gym. He was 50 years old.

Mike had left Our Sunday Visitor last April to go to work for his long-time friend, Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, Alabama. In my encounters with Mike after he left, he seemed enthusiastic about the work in the diocese. He was responsible for several areas of concern, and the challenges appeared to energize him.
Mike was always a hard worker. He was also a prolific and gifted author.

Among his titles for Our Sunday Visitor were
· The Church’s Most Powerful Novenas
· The How-To Book of the Mass, Expanded
· How to Get More out of the Mass
· How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist
· A Pocket Guide to Confession
· A Pocket Guide to the Mass
· Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with Fulton J. Sheen
· Praying the Rosary

The titles reveal his deep concern for the fundamental practices of the faith by Catholics. He sensed a great pastoral need in this area, and he had a gift for deepening the appreciation of ordinary Catholics for the encounters with Christ that occurred in Mass, during the Eucharist, in Confession.

Mike was also a gifted acquisition editor who oversaw the development of a host of successful books for us. He also took the lead in the editorial management of our pamphlet line.

Mike was a man of strong opinions, a keen intellect and a passion for his faith. He loved his wife, Amy, his children, Pope Benedict, and the Florida Gators.

Mike will be missed by all of us here at Our Sunday Visitor. He was a man dedicated to serving the Church in his work, in his writings, in his talks. He was a real gift to the Church in this country, and his death is a great loss for the Catholic community.

We ask everyone to pray for the repose of Mike’s soul, and to remember his family -- Amy and their children as well as Mike’s parents – in your prayers.

May he rest in peace.