The Rev. Nobincio "Nobby" Fernandez, who spent more than a decade at the helm of St. Philomena and St. Francis churches on the Kalaupapa peninsula, died Jan. 31 at St. Francis Hospice-West. He was 78.

His connection with Kalaupapa and its patron saint, the Blessed Father Damien, went beyond geography. A Roman Catholic priest for 43 years, Fernandez himself had contracted Hansen's disease.

While a chaplain in Okinawa in 1970, he experienced numbness in his leg. Military doctors sent him to the leprosarium at Carville, La., where it was determined he had Hansen's disease. While there, he unexpectedly met up with old friends from Kalaupapa.

Born in Wahiawa on Sept 28, 1929, his family moved to Kaua'i in 1936. He graduated from Kapa'a High School, and before joining the U.S. Air Force, had been engaged.

In Japan during his military service, he felt called to the priesthood; after receiving an early discharge, he joined Sacred Hearts Seminary College. He was ordained here in 1965, then went on to serve at St. George, St. Elizabeth, St. Roch, St. Joseph in Waipahu, St. Anthony on Maui and St. Michael in Waialua.

Father Christopher Keahi, a provincial superior with the diocese, described him as a compassionate man who, in the tradition of St. Francis, loved animals and was often seen feeding the birds.

In 1969, he returned to the Air Force as a chaplain but retired from military service in 1979. That's when he was named pastor of St. Francis Church in Kalaupapa, where for more than a dozen years he presided at daily Mass, promoting the canonization of Father Damien de Veuster, visited residents and fished.

He was remembered for saying, "When the ocean is calm, the sermon is short."

In 1991, he suffered a heart attack while trying to haul in a 40-pound barracuda off the Kalaupapa pier and was sent into semi-retirement.

He's survived by brothers, Rudolpho Notebo, Rosendo Fernandez, Lawrence Fernandez and Edward Fernandez; and sisters, Dionishia Salvador, Adeline del Rosario and Theresita Fernandez.

Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Ann Catholic Church in Kane'ohe, with a Mass to follow. Burial with military honors is 9 a.m. Wednesday at Hawaiian Memorial Park.