Deceased Friars


Timothy Richardson, OFM

Timothy Richardson

1942 – 1985

Br. Timothy Richardson, OFM, was born on July 18, 1942 in Pittsburgh. He became Roman Catholic at age 15 and entered the Capuchin novitiate, St. Conrad’s, in Annapolis, Md., in 1960. He professed temporary vows one year later and made his solemn profession in 1964.

He worked as a tailor in St. Conrad’s before transferring to the Commissariat of the Holy Land in 1968, serving as a schoolteacher in Jerusalem. Br. Timothy’s consciousness of the needs of the Church among Afro-American Catholics was raised at a meeting of the National Black Clergy Caucus in 1973.

In 1975, he was incorporated into Holy Name Province, and from 1975 to 1978, served at Holy Cross Friary in the Bronx, N.Y., and then for one year at St. Stephen’s Friary in New York City. Br. Timothy then moved into the rectory at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Harlem, N.Y., and taught at St. Agnes School for seven years. He dedicated himself to ministering to the black community in Harlem. Illness forced him to return to St. Stephen’s Friary, where the friars cared for him.

He died on Dec. 22, 1985 at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Br. Timothy was 43 years old and a professed friar for 24 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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Timothy Richardson, OFM

Timothy Richardson

1942 – 1985

Br. Timothy Richardson, OFM, was born on July 18, 1942 in Pittsburgh. He became Roman Catholic at age 15 and entered the Capuchin novitiate, St. Conrad’s, in Annapolis, Md., in 1960. He professed temporary vows one year later and made his solemn profession in 1964.

He worked as a tailor in St. Conrad’s before transferring to the Commissariat of the Holy Land in 1968, serving as a schoolteacher in Jerusalem. Br. Timothy’s consciousness of the needs of the Church among Afro-American Catholics was raised at a meeting of the National Black Clergy Caucus in 1973.

In 1975, he was incorporated into Holy Name Province, and from 1975 to 1978, served at Holy Cross Friary in the Bronx, N.Y., and then for one year at St. Stephen’s Friary in New York City. Br. Timothy then moved into the rectory at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Harlem, N.Y., and taught at St. Agnes School for seven years. He dedicated himself to ministering to the black community in Harlem. Illness forced him to return to St. Stephen’s Friary, where the friars cared for him.

He died on Dec. 22, 1985 at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Br. Timothy was 43 years old and a professed friar for 24 years.