For immediate release
Contact: Jocelyn Thomas
Jthomas@hnp.org
RINGWOOD, N.J. — Aug. 31, 2018 – Fr. Jeremiah McGinley, OFM, 89, a professed Franciscan friar for 67 years and a priest for 63, died on Aug. 30 at Holy Name Friary.
A wake will be held on Sept. 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. at St. Anthony Church, 65 Bartholdi Ave., Butler, N.J., with a wake service at 6:30 p.m. Provincial Minister Fr. Kevin Mullen, OFM, will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 5 at St. Anthony Church. Burial will take place at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Butler.
Early Years
Fr. McGinley was born on Oct. 12, 1928 in Buffalo, N.Y., to Vincent and Marie (nee McFarland) and baptized there on Nov. 4, 1928. He attended P.S. 72 Elementary School and Canisius High School in Buffalo. Following graduation in 1946, he attended St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y., where he earned a degree in philosophy in 1950.
He was received into the Order of Friars Minor on Aug. 12, 1950 by Fr. Thomas Plassmann, OFM, in Paterson, N.J., and professed his first vows a year later. On Aug. 13, 1954, Fr. McGinley professed his final vows as a Franciscan at Christ the King Seminary in Allegany. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 9, 1955 at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C.
Ministry
His first assignment was as an assistant at St. Stephen of Hungary Parish on East 82nd Street in New York City, where he served from 1955 to 1959. In 1959, he was assigned to serve on the Province’s mission band, the ministry through which friars travel to various parishes giving retreats and preaching missions. He was based for a year at St. Elizabeth’s Parish in Denver, Colo., and from 1959 until 1985, he lived at St. Anthony Friary in Butler, N.J.
Fr. McGinley was assigned in 1985 to St. Anne’s Parish in Fair Lawn, N.J., where he served for 20 years until Holy Name Province withdrew from the parish. In 2005, he was assigned to Sacred Heart Friary in East Rutherford, N.J. While there, he worked at St. Anthony’s Guild and helped at local parishes including St. Anne’s, where he often participated in St. Patrick’s Day festivities. In 2008, he moved back to St. Anthony Friary in Butler and retired there four years later.
Fr. McGinley is survived by several cousins: Ann Brown of Williamsville, N.Y., Mildred Davis of Buffalo, N.Y., Elizabeth Fox of Evansville, Ind., and Barbara Makarewicz and Carol Sundberg, both of Western New York.
Memorial donations may be sent to Franciscan Friars – Holy Name Province, 144 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001-3202.
About Holy Name Province
Holy Name Province is the largest of seven entities in the United States belonging to the Order of Friars Minor. With ministries in 12 states along the East Coast, its nearly 300 Catholic priests and brothers serve in colleges, parishes, urban ministry centers and a wide variety of social justice ministries, as well as in overseas missions.
The Order, founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi, commemorated its 800th anniversary in 2009. Today, St. Francis, whose feast day is Oct. 4, remains one of the most widely known saints, revered for his affection for nature and care for creation.
Information about Holy Name Province can be found on www.hnp.org. News about the friars and their ministries can be found on the Facebook page of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province.
Interview and photo requests should be directed to Jocelyn Thomas, HNP director of communications, at 646-473-0265 ext. 321 or jthomas@hnp.org.