Bob Jalbert is the son of Oswald and Claire Jalbert and the brother of Paul Jalbert. Bob was born in 1946, at Southbridge, Massachusetts, in the Diocese of Worcester. He attended Notre Dame Parish Grammar and High Schools in Southbridge and served in the U.S. Air Force Security Service from 1966 to 1970 as a Russian linguist and interpreter. His tours of duty took him to Brindisi, Italy, for ten months; to Trabzon, Turkey, for fifteen months; and to the National Security Agency in Fr. Deade, Maryland, for four months.

Bob studied at Holy Apostles Seminary / College for Older Vocations in Cromwell, Connecticut, and graduated in May of 1973 with a B.A. degree in English Literature. Bob's initial contact with Maryknoll came in 1971 while at Holy Apostles; and upon graduation in 1973, Bob entered the Maryknoll Novitiate at Hingham, Massachusetts, in September of that year. Following one year of Novitiate and two years of theological studies at the Maryknoll School or Theology (MST), Bob spent two years on OTP in Tanzania. After Swahili studies at Makoko Language School, he served at Nyalikungu Parish in Shinyanga from February 1977 until May 1978.

Bob was ordained to the priesthood at Maryknoll, New York, on May 19, 1979. He was subsequently assigned to pursue studies in Linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC Graduating in August of 1981 with an MS Degree in Sociolinguistics, Bob was assigned to the Maryknoll Center for Mission Studies in New York for a year. He was next assigned to the Kenya Region in 1982.
From October 1982 through October 1985, Bob served the Umoja Parish in Nairobi and ministered specifically to the Embakasi and Soweto communities. During his three years in Kenya, Bob served as the Region's OTP Coordinator and as its Representative to the Formation / Education Department (FED).

In 1985, Bob was assigned once again to Maryknoll, NY, as the Society's Director of OTP under the FED At the same time, he served as the Coordinator of Maryknoll's Cross Cultural Training Services. Bob served in those positions for two years until September of 1987 when he was asked to be the Assistant Director of FED and Assistant Director of the Center for Mission Studies. In May of 1990, Bob was appointed Director of both FED and the Center for Mission Studies. He served in those capacities until December 1991. During his six and a half years at Maryknoll, NY, Bob also was a member of the MST Board of Trustees as well as a member of the Chicago Theological Union's Board of Trustees.

Following a one year sabbatical in 1992, Bob was appointed as Directory of Maryknoll's Language School in Musoma, Tanzania. In July of 1995, Bob was elected as First Assistant to the Regional Superior of the Tanzania Region.

In 1999, Bob moved to Nairobi to begin a new pastoral ministry in the urban slums. He also serves as the Director of the Maryknoll Society House and financial office in Nairobi.

Bob's Reflections            Bob's Ministry

Vist the Maryknollers Currently in Nairobi, Kenya