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Former Breezy Point Pastor Dies at Age 73
A Mass of Christian Burial for Msgr. Michael J. Connelly, pastor emeritus of St. Thomas More-St. Edmund parish, Breezy Point, was celebrated Nov. 29 at the church. He died Nov. 25 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan, after a long illness. He was 73.
Born in Galway, Ireland, he attended St. Patrick’s Seminary, Carlow, and St. Jarlath’s College, Tuam. He was ordained June 11, 1960 by Bishop Keogh in the cathedral at Carlow.
He served as an assistant at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Windsor Terrace, 1966, and Sacred Heart, Bayside, 1966-82.
In 1982, he was named pastor of St. Thomas More-St. Edmund, a position he held until he retired due to illness in 2005. He also served as administrator of St. Genevieve’s, Rockaway Pt.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass. Special concelebrants included: Msgrs. Martin Geraghty and Gregory Wielunski and Fathers Hugh Byrne and Raymond Schmidt. Father Coman V. Brady preached the homily.
Father Brady, pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer, East Flatbush, knew Msgr. Connelly, his best friend, as John as long they had known each other back to St. Patrick’s Seminary in Carlow, Ireland, south of Dublin. They both were ordained in Ireland, but for the Diocese of Brooklyn, 47 and 48 years ago.
“He was a great friend,” Father Brady recalls. “He knew how to keep the connection. He wasn’t afraid to use the phone.”
They traveled together a few times to Florida, but also home to Ireland. Msgr. Connelly visited his family’s farms in Galway.
“I don’t think he was ever happier than when he was working on the farm with the cattle near him. He always wanted to know how Joe’s and Tom’s farms were doing, how the cattle were thriving. He walked those fields with studied grace. John concealed his feelings but I know that his family knew how much he loved them.”
Msgr. Connelly was a great practical joker, particularly on April Fools’ Day. He could talk people into doing things like covering the phone in plastic to keep the dust from coming out until they realized he had gotten the best of him. He was an avid golfer and his last words to his friend were, “You are going to have the last putt.”
In his homily, Father Brady called his friend, “a faithful priest, lover of his family and Ireland, friend, golfer, jokester, lover of poetry…”
As a priest, Msgr. Connelly’s “love of the people was his great gift.”
“I remember once standing with him outside Immaculate Heart of Mary Church when a man came along,” Father Brady recalled. “I recognized him as a man who had left my parish three months before, but I couldn’t put a name on him. But, of course, John could. He had that great gift for a priest of being able to remember each person and he used that gift to bring God to his people.”
Msgr. Connelly had been sick the past few years with heart trouble and Parkinson’s disease.
Msgr. Connelly is survived by his sister, Mary Hoare, and his brother, Joseph, both of Ireland. Burial was in Kilclooney Cemetery, Knock, Milltown, County Galway, Ireland.
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Sister Rita MacDonald, S.C., a Sister of Charity, Halifax, for 69 years, died Oct. 26 at Elizabeth Seton Residence, Wellesley Hills.
Locally, she taught primary grades at Our Lady Help of Christians, Midwood, 1938-1952, and St. Sebastian’s, Woodside, 1952-56. She also was CCD coordinator at St. Barnabas the Apostle, Bellmore, 1970-74.
Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham, MA.
Sister Evelyn Goslin, S.C., a Sister of Charity, Halifax, for 78 years, died Nov. 5 at Elizabeth Seton Residence, Wellesley Hills.
She taught fifth and eighth grades at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School, Jamaica, 1931-37.
Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham, MA.
Sister Caroleen Marie Browne, S.C., a Sister of Charity, Halifax, for 64 years, died Nov. 4 at Elizabeth Seton Residence, Wellesley Hills.
She taught fifth and sixth grades at St. Sylvester’s, New Lots, 1946-54; Bishop Reilly H.S./St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, 1970-75; college courses, Woodside, 1975-77; and Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge, 1977-87.
Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham, MA.
Sister Marie Kelly, S.C., a Sister of Charity, Halifax, for 72 years, died Oct. 31 at Elizabeth Seton Residence, Wellesley Hills.
She taught second grade at Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge, 1953-56, and returned to teach primary grades, conduct home visits, tutor students and volunteer in the school, 1971 - 2000.
Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham, MA.
Sister Lawrence Therese Murphy, C.S.J., a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, for 62 years died Nov. 15, in Maria Regina Residence, Brentwood. She was 81.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Nov. 19 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Windsor Terrace.
She entered the congregation in 1946 from St. Teresa’s parish, Brooklyn.
Her school ministries included St. Athanasius, Bensonhurst, 1948-49; St. Martin of Tours, Bushwick, 1949-52; Ascension, Elmhurst, 1952-56; St. Augustine, Park Slope, 1956-58; St. Michael’s, Sunset Park, 1958-61; St. Agnes, Cobble Hill, 1964-65; and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Windsor Terrace, 1965-2003. Her last years were spent as a volunteer at Brooklyn Jesuit Prep, Crown Heights.
Since she ministered 41 years in the school and parish of Immaculate Heart of Mary, the pastor and the parishioners requested that her wake and funeral be held in the parish church.
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Helen Murphy.
Burial was in Calvary Cemetery, Brentwood.
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