Robert C. Seay graduated from Lima Central High School (1952), Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland School of Art.  After becoming a Franciscan brother in 1966, he taught and served as assistant business manager at Bishop Luers High School in Ft. Wayne, IN. There, he also co-founded the Ft. Wayne-South Bend National Black Catholic Caucus, served on the mayor’s task force on education, and was active in other civic affairs of the city.

In 1972, discerning a call to priesthood, he studied graduate theology courses at Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Boston, MA and at Harvard University.  After ordination as a Franciscan priest he served as assistant pastor at St. Thomas Church in Memphis, worked in an anti-poverty program and helped develop a halfway house for chemical dependents.

In 1978, Seay was assigned as urban consultant to the diocese of Boston. There he worked at improving relations with the various ethnic groups and received many citations for helping to keep peace and fostering better understanding between the citizens. He also aided in developing the concept of the cluster schools.

From Boston, Seay served in East Orange, NJ, and then moved to Our Lady of Charity in Brooklyn as pastor. After several racial incidents, Seay became prominent in working for peace in New York City.  He served on the pastoral council for the mayor of New York City and even attended a Reagan White House briefing on foreign and domestic missions. Additionally, he has received two outstanding citizen’s awards in Brooklyn.

For the past 18 years, Seay has served as pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church (a historically African American parish) in Lafayette, LA and as Chancellor of Holy Family tri-parish school, where more than half of the upper grade students receive Presidential Achievement Awards annually.  This year, Seay retired at age 84 with over 40 years of priestly service – many of those years intertwined with NBCCC. From educating youth to improving race relations, clearly his passion and love for all people has made a difference.