Josephinum seminarian killed in bus crash might have saved lives

A Pontifical College Josephinum seminarian killed in a bus crash in Colorado on Sunday, June 23 might have saved the lives of the vehicle’s other passengers.

Jason Paul Marshall, 53, was one of two people who died when the bus hit an embankment under a bridge along Interstate 25 South near Pueblo, Colorado, said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Blake White. Also killed was the bus driver, Anthony L. Padilla, 36. 

The bus was carrying 10 students and five adults. All 13 survivors were injured and taken to local hospitals, including one person listed in critical condition.

“He saw the driver in distress, grabbed the wheel and prevented the bus from flipping. He tried to get the bus under control,” Marshall’s brother, Jeff, told the Staten Island (New York) Advance newspaper. Jason Marshall was a Staten Island native.

The bus was taking a youth group from the University of New Mexico’s Aquinas Newman Center back to New Mexico from a conference that took place in Denver from June 21 to 23. The conference was one of several summer youth events sponsored nationwide annually by Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Marshall would have begun his second year of theology studies at the Josephinum. He was in formation to become a priest of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“He was a wonderful guy, one of the most calm, balanced, mature people I’ve ever met,” said Josephinum seminarian Eugene Joseph, who is at the New Albany Church of the Resurrection for the summer and anticipates being ordained to the diaconate on Sept. 14 and to the diocesan priesthood in May 2020.

“He was older than most seminarians, and his life experience was most helpful for us all. He was involved and engaged in a lot of things and knew how to encourage others. Jason genuinely wanted what was good for everybody. Even though he was a new guy when he came here last year, he was elected to the Student Senate because of the respect we developed for him.”   

“One thing has struck me since (the crash),” Josephinum seminarian Matthew Gubenski told Catholic News Agency. “I knew that he (Jason) was good at talking to people ... but I didn’t realize how close everyone there felt with him. You hear stories about St. John Bosco, how every single kid in the oratory felt like they were his favorite. Jason was always ready to listen and really get you inspired and help you.”

After graduating from college with a degree in environmental science and forestry, Marshall worked as a health inspector. In a YouTube video posted by the vocations office of the Santa Fe archdiocese, he said he first felt a call to the priesthood while living in Denver.

“I was drinking some coffee and reading Scripture and got the sense that the Scriptures were speaking to me,” he said. “At first I thought that was crazy at my age and that time in my life. But nothing’s crazy for God. Nothing’s too big for God.”

He chose to pursue theological studies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his grandmother lived. He earned a divinity degree from the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio in 2017.

“We join (Santa Fe) Archbishop (John) Wester, Father John Trambley (archdiocesan vocations director) and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, as well as his family and friends, in mourning the loss of seminarian Jason Marshall. We are united in the unity of prayer for Jason for the consolation of his family and friends and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and offer our profound condolences,” said Msgr. Christopher Schreck, former rector/president of the Josephinum."