The Rev. Theodore Edward Tack Jr., OSA, who later became Cascia Hall's headmaster, a role in which he continued not only to promote that spirit but embody
it, died Sunday. He was 85.


A wake is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, a visitation will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, and a funeral Mass is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, all in the St. Rita Chapel at Cascia Hall.


The headmaster at Cascia Hall from 1991 to 1997, Tack was affiliated with the school longer than any other employee, having begun there as a junior high student in 1939. It was there as a student that he'd decided to study for the priesthood. A graduate of Villanova University and Gregorian University in Rome, Tack was ordained in 1953.

After teaching in the U.S., he was invited back to Rome in 1961 to teach at Augustinian University and was later elected to lead the Augustinian order.
As the head of the Rome-based order from 1971 to 1983, he traveled extensively, visiting Augustinian communities all over the world and educating other Catholics about St. Augustine's teachings. During his travels, Tack, who spoke Italian and Spanish, met with several cardinals and popes, as well as such influential figures as Mother Teresa.


The Rev. Robert Prevost, the current head of the Augustinians, said Tack "was a great model and an aid to me whom I've continued to consult. He really set the expectations for what the order has wanted in its leaders since. No one before had traveled like he did in his dedication to the Augustinians throughout the world. We owe him a great deal."


Tack, the son of late Tulsa oilman Theodore Tack, was born in Tulsa in 1927. He came from a culturally diverse background - his father was of German descent, his mother from Trinidad. At Cascia Hall, he played basketball, and was co-editor of the school paper with future Tulsa Mayor Robert LaFortune.

After his tenure as headmaster - during which he helped increase enrollment and oversaw many campus improvements - Tack taught until his retirement in 2011.
Tack, who wrote many articles and books about St. Augustine, provided "a living example of Augustine" to Cascia, Headmaster John Sotak said. "And he represented our core values of truth, unity and love, which we developed under his guidance."
The Rev. Bernie Scianna, who succeeded Tack as headmaster, said: "Father Tack's is a great story: a worldwide leader who returns after many years to his alma mater. A worldwide leader who at the same time saw himself as one of us, trying to teach, trying to live his life, carrying on the search with us."


Tack is survived by one sister, Sue Tillman.

Friends are contributing to the Tack Fund at Cascia Hall or the Augustinian Province Fund for the Sick and Elderly.

FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL 918-585-1151