Deceased Friars

Patrick Adams, OFM

Patrick Adams

1916 – 1999

Fr. Patrick Adams, OFM, was born on Nov. 14, 1916 in Macon, Ga., and baptized George Raphael. Also known as Rafe — after his uncle, Fr. Raphael Adams, OFM — he graduated from the local Catholic elementary school before enrolling at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary, where his uncle was the rector. Fr. Patrick was received into the Order at St. Bonaventure Friary, Paterson, N.J., in 1936 and professed temporary vows one year later. He made his solemn profession in 1940 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1942.

Gregarious and people-loving, Fr. Patrick was a natural for his first assignments: seven years of parochial ministry at Sacred Heart Parish, Rochelle Park, N.J., and St. Bonaventure Parish, Allegany, N.Y. He then served six years as a navy chaplain, two of them in wartime combat with the 1st Marine Division in Korea.

In 1956, he returned to America for a short time, serving at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City while awaiting assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Triangle, Va. The parish was located next to the Quantico Marine base, where he served for another six years.

For the next 20 years, until 1976, he ministered as assistant at ministries in New York City, Providence, R.I., and Americus, Ga., before accepting a 16-year tenure as administrator of St. Theresa Parish, Cordele, Ga., in his home diocese of Savannah. Through his many years of ministry, he retained a sense of himself as a born and bred son of the South.

Fr. Patrick died in St. Anthony’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, Fla., on Oct. 6, 1999. He was 82 years old, a professed friar for 62 years and a priest for 57 years.

Each of us should be called a lesser brother, a Friar Minor. Each one of us should wash the feet of the others.”

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Patrick Adams, OFM

Patrick Adams

1916 – 1999

Fr. Patrick Adams, OFM, was born on Nov. 14, 1916 in Macon, Ga., and baptized George Raphael. Also known as Rafe — after his uncle, Fr. Raphael Adams, OFM — he graduated from the local Catholic elementary school before enrolling at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary, where his uncle was the rector. Fr. Patrick was received into the Order at St. Bonaventure Friary, Paterson, N.J., in 1936 and professed temporary vows one year later. He made his solemn profession in 1940 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1942.

Gregarious and people-loving, Fr. Patrick was a natural for his first assignments: seven years of parochial ministry at Sacred Heart Parish, Rochelle Park, N.J., and St. Bonaventure Parish, Allegany, N.Y. He then served six years as a navy chaplain, two of them in wartime combat with the 1st Marine Division in Korea.

In 1956, he returned to America for a short time, serving at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City while awaiting assignment to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Triangle, Va. The parish was located next to the Quantico Marine base, where he served for another six years.

For the next 20 years, until 1976, he ministered as assistant at ministries in New York City, Providence, R.I., and Americus, Ga., before accepting a 16-year tenure as administrator of St. Theresa Parish, Cordele, Ga., in his home diocese of Savannah. Through his many years of ministry, he retained a sense of himself as a born and bred son of the South.

Fr. Patrick died in St. Anthony’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, Fla., on Oct. 6, 1999. He was 82 years old, a professed friar for 62 years and a priest for 57 years.