Brother Andre J. Hamel, M.S., born Arthur Henry Hamel, 86, a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette, died June 18, 2024 at La Salette Hartford House in Hartford, CT.  He was born May 31, 1938 in Boston, MA, son of the late Armand Andrew and Genevieve Mary (Norton) Hamel.  He attended grammar school in Dorchester, MA and Cathedral High School in Boston, MA and graduated in 1957.  Prior to entering La Salette, he served in the Coast Guard.  Brother Andre entered the La Salette Novitiate in Ipswich, MA on September 18, 1966.  He made his First Profession of Vows on September 19, 1967 and professed his Perpetual Vows on September 23, 1972.

In the early years of religious life, Brother Andre served as chef at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Ipswich, MA; the La Salette Theologate in Washington, DC; Camp La Salette in Ipswich, MA; and the La Salette Seminary in Altamont, NY. Brother Andre also ministered at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Washington, DC and then St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux, LA in 1981.  In 1983, he assumed the position of Program Coordinator at Texas Southern University in Houston, TX in campus ministry.  From 1984 until 1987, he was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Hartford, CT.  In 1987, he was named Co-Director of the La Salette Seminary in Altamont, NY.  Brother Hamel was assigned to Hartford House in 1990.  At Hartford House, he was appointed for a term as house treasurer while supervising kitchen and laundry duties.  He was again appointed treasurer in 2000 for Hartford House and retired in 2014.  Brother Andre continued assisting at Hartford House as porter, answering phone calls at the front office, Mass cards, Spiritual Bouquets and greeting people coming to Hartford House.

In addition to his La Salette confreres, Brother Andre is survived by his brother, Armand Hamel of Massachusetts and Armand's children.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be concelebrated on Friday, June 21, 2024, at the Hartford House Chapel at 10:30 am.  Burial will be at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield, CT.  Calling hours will be at Hartford House on Friday from 9:15 to 10:15 am.  Memorial donations can be made to: Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette Retirement Fund, P.O. Box 331370, West Hartford, CT 06133.  The Dillon-Baxter Funeral Home, 1276 Berlin Tpke., Wethersfield, CT has charge of arrangements.