The Creighton community lost a former Jesuit member, one who the athletic department is very familiar with.

The Rev. Robert P. Hart, S.J., died Saturday morning in Wauwatosa, Wisc., at the age of 77.

A former member of Creighton’s theology faculty, he served as chaplain for several Creighton varsity sports, including men’s and women’s soccer and men’s basketball.

“Fr. Hart was great,” said women’s soccer head coach Bruce Erickson.

“When I came to Creighton he was one of the first people I met. He loved everything about our teams.”

Erickson said Hart still traveled with the women’s soccer team toward the end of his time at Creighton, even though he was in a wheelchair at that point. He would say mass for the players.

“I was thrilled to have him as part of our program,” Erickson said. “He certainly made an impression.”

Hart was born in Milwaukee and entered the Society of Jesus in 1949.

He was ordained a priest on June 12, 1962. He taught theology at Marquette University, served at Boston State and Yale University hospitals and was the associate pastor at St. Rita’s Church in Hamden, Conn. before coming to Creighton in 1982. He retired in 2001 due to health concerns.

Men’s soccer head coach Bob Warming said he remembers Hart, especially in tandem with Dr. Lee Bevilacqua, another frequent traveler with Creighton sports teams.

“Those two guys were just wonderful influences on our players,” he said. “They both were just reassuring people.”

Warming was the men’s head soccer coach from 1990 to 1994 and then returned in 2001. One of his favorite Hart-Bevilacqua stories was told to him by Bret Simon, Creighton’s coach from 1995-2000.

Warming said the men’s team was on a trip to Nashville in 1998 and Hart asked Bevilacqua to stand in the goal so he could take some practice shots during warm-up. The team roared with laughter as Hart rocketed kicks past Bevilacqua.

When Hart died, Warming said he received a text message from Kevin Sarver, the assistant director of athletics. It said Hart was kicking balls in heaven at Bevilacqua.

Warming said Hart and Bevilacqua were kind and gentle people, but they were vicious to referees.

“Let’s just say they [the referees] never made a call against the Bluejays that was well received by those guys,” he said.

Ultimately, one of Hart’s best qualities was that he was nonjudgmental. The players could go to him and talk about anything without being judged or lectured, Warming said.

“I think there’s enormous value to having someone in your life who will just listen,” Warming said. “That’s the kind of guy he was.”