Eighteen diocesan and 10 religious-order priests celebrated milestone anniversaries at a Mass with Bishop Malooly on Nov. 3 at St. Joseph Church in Middletown.
The priests celebrating jubilees are:
55 years
Father Francis J. Pileggi, 83, of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales has been on the staff of Salesianum School in Wilmington since 2001. He also graduated from that school. A Willow Grove, Pa., native, he also has served on high school faculties in Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Detroit, and he has been a parochial vicar at three parishes in New Jersey, including Corpus Christi in Carneys Point.
Father Stanley J. Russell, 80, has been the pastor of St. Helena Parish in Bellefonte since 1994. He has also been pastor of Holy Rosary, Claymont, and Our Lady of Fatima, New Castle; and associate pastor of St. Edmond’s, Rehoboth Beach; and St. Ann’s and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Wilmington. He has been a member of the diocesan Liturgical Commission, the director of family life, the diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee and the Priests’ Council. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Father Russell has served as dean of the New Castle and the Brandywine Hundred deaneries.
50 years
Father Raymond L. Forester, 76, retired in 2013 after 13 years as pastor at St. Edmond’s, Rehoboth Beach. The Wilmington native attended Christ Our King School before entering St. Charles Minor Seminary in Catonsville, Md. He was an associate pastor at St. Michael the Archangel, Georgetown, and Corpus Christi, Elsmere, where he also taught in the parish high school. In addition to St. Edmond’s, he was pastor of Holy Name of Jesus, Pocomoke City, Md.; Corpus Christi; Holy Rosary, Claymont; and Good Shepherd, Perryville, Md. He served on the Priests’ Senate, the Clergy Personnel Committee, the St. Mark’s High School board and the diocesan Vocation Committee.
Father Daniel W. Gerres grew up in Wilmington and attended St. Ann’s School before entering St. Charles Minor Seminary in Catonsville, Md. He served as an associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalen and St. Matthew’s, Wilmington, and as pastor or administrator at Corpus Christi, Elsmere; Resurrection, St. John the Beloved, Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Thomas the Apostle, all in Wilmington. Father Gerres, 76, who lives in Hockessin, also was a member of the Priests’ Senate and the boards of directors of the Catholic Press of Wilmington, St. Mark’s High School and the Catholic Diocese Foundation. He was chairman of the Clergy Personnel Committee, the Continuing Education Committee and the Ecumenical Commission. He was formerly a National Guard chaplain, reaching the rank of colonel, and a prison chaplain.
Father Leonard J. Kempski, who turns 80 in December, is retired and lives at Holy Rosary in Claymont, where he says Mass regularly. The Wilmington native attended St. Paul’s School and has served as an associate pastor at Holy Rosary; and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington, where he also served as administrator. He was pastor at Christ Our King, Wilmington, and St. Mary of the Assumption, Hockessin. He was also administrator of St. Thomas the Apostle, Wilmington, and Holy Rosary. Father Kempski has been a diocesan vocations director and a member of the Priests’ Senate, the Pastoral Commission, Personnel Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, Lay Ministry Committee, and the boards of the Catholic Press of Wilmington Inc. and Catholic Cemeteries. He also has been the diocesan ecumenical officer, moderator for Interreligious Affairs and director of the permanent diaconate.
Father Roy F. Pollard, 76, grew up in Wilmington, attending public schools and Salesianum. He has been associate pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul, Easton, Md.; St. Catherine of Siena, St. Matthew’s and St. John the Beloved, all in Wilmington; and Our Lady of Fatima, New Castle. He has been pastor of St. Benedict, Ridgely, Md., St. Ann’s, Bethany Beach; St. Helena’s, Wilmington; and St. Mary of the Assumption, Hockessin. Father Pollard has served as diocesan chaplain to the Boy Scouts and has been a member of the diocesan Cemetery Board and Ulster Project Delaware, the diocesan Tribunal and the board of Boy Scouts of America.
Father Thomas J. Tucker, 78, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, is a Philadelphia native who attended Catholic schools there. He spent 11 years on the faculty of Father Judge High School before spending 29 years on Salesianum’s faculty. He also was superior of the Salesianum Oblate community from 1998-2004. He retired in 2007 and lives at Annecy Hall, the Oblates’ retirement facility in Childs, Md.
45 years
Father John P. Connery, OSFS, was born in Norristown, Pa., and attended Catholic schools in Philadelphia. He spent most of his years in active ministry with the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in the Diocese of Wilmington, beginning at Salesianum, where he taught from 1980-85. Father Connery, 75, was director of communications for the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of the Oblates from 1985-2008, and for 16 years, he served as chief of chaplains at the VA Medical Center in Elsmere. He also taught at Oblate high schools in Virginia and Philadelphia. He is retired and lives at the Salesianum Oblate community.
Father William F. Graney has been the pastor of Resurrection Parish in Wilmington since 2004. The Wilmington native attended St. Elizabeth elementary and high schools, then St. Mary’s College in Wilmington, followed by St. Mary’s College in Kentucky. He has been an associate pastor at Holy Rosary, Claymont; Holy Spirit, New Castle; Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Paul’s, Wilmington. In addition to Resurrection, Father Graney, 73, has been pastor or administrator at St. Paul’s and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington; and St. Michael the Archangel, Georgetown. He has been chaplain to Marriage Encounter and area hospitals, and a member of the Priests’ Council, the College of Consultors and the Priest Personnel Committee.
Msgr. Francis B. Koper, 72, has been in ministry at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich., since 1974. He was a teacher there for several years before becoming rector in 1977 and served in that capacity until 2001. He is on the seminary faculty. The Wilmington native, who attended St. Hedwig School and spent two years at Salesianum School, spent three years as associate pastor at St. Hedwig’s.
Father Gerard J. Mahoney attended Catholic schools in his hometown of Philadelphia before joining the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. He spent his priesthood in education, primarily in Oblate high schools. Father Mahoney, 73, ministered in Philadelphia — primarily at Father Judge High School — and Reading, Pa., in addition to Wilmington, where he spent three years on the faculty at Salesianum. He was also spiritual adviser at Nativity Prep from 2010-15 while also serving at St. Anthony of Padua Parish. In 2015 he moved to the DeSales Centre Oblate Residence in Childs, Md.
Father Thomas J. McGee, 74, is retired and lives at the Salesianum Oblate Residence in Wilmington. He was on the faculty at Salesianum from 1975-77 and returned as principal from 1992-98. In addition, he served on the faculty and in administration at Oblate high schools, and he was superior of the Bishop Verot Oblate Community in Fort Myers, Fla., from 1999-2002. Father McGee was pastor of a parish in North Carolina for six years and a parochial vicar at parishes in Virginia and New Jersey before retiring.
Father Joseph R. McMahon was born in Jersey City, N.J., and attended St. Joseph on the Brandywine School and A.I. DuPont High School after moving to Wilmington. He was an associate pastor of Holy Child and St. Elizabeth, both in Wilmington, administrator of St. Peter Cathedral, Wilmington, and pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption, Hockessin, and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington. Father McMahon, who turns 71 this month, also served as a board member of Project Equality of Delmarva, a board member at St. Mark’s High School, vice-chancellor and chancellor of the diocese, diocesan master of ceremonies, diocesan director of Catholic Relief Services for the diocese, and a member of the Priest Personnel Committee, Priests’ Council and the College of Consultors. He was the diocesan coordinator of the Medical-Moral Committee at St. Francis Hospital and director of Apostleship of Prayer. He retired in July 2015.
Father Sean F. Turley, 76, has ministered in England since 1988. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he served as an associate pastor of St. John the Beloved and St. Matthew’s, Wilmington; St. Helena’s, Bellefonte; and St. Joseph, Middletown. He became an Air Force chaplain in 1981 and joined the regular Air Force in 1987.
40 years
Father Robert Coine, 73, grew up in Phoenixville, Pa., and attended Catholic schools there. He was an associate pastor of St. Elizabeth, St. Ann’s, Holy Child and St. Hedwig, Wilmington; Holy Cross; Dover; Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Md.; and Ss. Peter and Paul, Easton, Md. He was pastor at St. Benedict, Ridgely, Md.; and Ss. Peter and Paul, where he was pastor for 15 years before retiring in 2014. He came out of retirement this past April to become pastor of St. Michael the Archangel, Georgetown. Father Coine also was diocesan chaplain to the Girl Scouts, an advocate in the diocesan Tribunal and a member of the board of trustees at St. Edmond’s Academy, Wilmington.
Father Stephen C. Lonek has been the pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Secretary, Md., since 2010. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., he was ordained for the Archdiocese of New York and served in several parishes there before coming to the Diocese of Wilmington in 1993. He has been associate pastor of St. John’s/Holy Angels, Newark, and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington, and pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption, Hockessin, in addition to his current assignment. Father Lonek, 66, was incardinated into the Diocese of Wilmington in 2000.
Father William P. Mathesius, 66, is a retired priest of the diocese who often assists at resort-area parishes in Delaware and Ocean City, Md. The Jersey City, N.J., native has been an associate pastor at Christ Our King, St. John the Beloved and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington; Holy Rosary, Claymont; Holy Cross, Dover; Sacred Heart, Chestertown, Md.; St. Helena, Bellefonte; St. Peter the Apostle, New Castle; St. Joseph on the Brandywine, Greenville; and St. Joseph, Middletown. He was administrator of St. Peter the Apostle and also of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Secretary, Md. Father Mathesius also has been a prison chaplain.
Father Raymond Weisman is a Maryland native who currently serves as associate pastor of St. Francis de Sales in Salisbury, Md. He has been an associate pastor at Sacred Heart, Chestertown, Md.; St. Matthew’s, Wilmington; St. Francis de Sales, Salisbury, Md.; and St. Luke-St. Andrew, Ocean City, Md. In addition, he has been pastor at Holy Name of Jesus, Pocomoke City, Md., and St. Luke-St. Andrew. Father Weisman, 70, also has been spiritual director of the Cursillo movement, dean of the Delmar deanery, and a member of the Priests’ Council.
35 years
Father Joseph T. Gomolski, a native of Millville, N.J., who attended Catholic schools there, became a chaplain in the Delaware Army National Guard in 1982, and in 1987 he was released from the diocese for full-time service as an Army chaplain. He served at Fort Rucker, Ala., in Korea, Fort Ben Harrison, Ind., and Fort Eustis, Va. He retired from military service in 1996 and assists with pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Orlando, Fla. In the Diocese of Wilmington, Father Gomolski, 68, was an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bear, and St. John’s-Holy Angels, Newark.
30 years
Father Gregory M. Corrigan, 60, has been an associate pastor at Resurrection in Wilmington since 2011. He served as an associate pastor at Holy Rosary, Claymont, after ordination and became director of pastoral care at St. Mark’s in 1989. He has been administrator of Good Shepherd in Perryville, Md., and pastor of Corpus Christi, Elsmere. The Wilmington native attended St. Elizabeth Elementary School.
Father John J. Gayton has been pastor of Holy Rosary, Claymont, since 2009. He grew up in Philadelphia and attended Catholic schools there before joining the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. He came to the Diocese of Wilmington in 1996 and became the coordinator of AIDS services for Catholic Charities while providing weekend ministry at St. Catherine of Siena, Wilmington. In 1999, he was appointed associate pastor of Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Md., and also served as an associate at Holy Rosary and Holy Cross, Dover. Father Gayton, 60, has been a Navy chaplain for many years.
Father James T. Kirk, who turns 60 in December, is the pastor of St. Mary Magdalen in Wilmington, a post he has held since 2015. He also has been administrator and pastor of Holy Child, Wilmington, and associate pastor at St. Matthew’s, St. Catherine of Siena, Holy Child and St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington; and Holy Rosary, Claymont. A Wilmington native, he attended St. Peter the Apostle School in New Castle and Salesianum School. In addition to his parish assignments, he has served as a Knights of Columbus chaplain.
Father Michael S. Murray, OSFS, who turns 59 this month, is the director of staff, parent and alumni ministry at Salesianum School in Wilmington, a post he assumed this year, and since 2005 has been the superior of the De Sales House in Wilmington. Before returning to Salesianum, the Oblate of St. Francis de Sales spent five years as the superior of the De Sales Centre Oblate Community in Childs, Md., and had been the director of the De Sales Spirituality Centers in Wilmington, Childs and Washington, D.C. He also previously worked at Salesianum and had been principal at Northeast Catholic High School. A Wilmington native, he attended St. John the Beloved School and Salesianum.
Father Joseph J. Piekarski, a native of Wilmington, is pastor of St. John the Beloved, Wilmington, where he has served since 2015, and dean of the Central New Castle deanery. He attended St. Hedwig School and St. Elizabeth High School in Wilmington. His associate pastorates were at St. Elizabeth, Corpus Christi, St. Peter Cathedral and St. John the Beloved, Wilmington; St. Luke-St. Andrew-St. John Neumann, Ocean City, Md.; and Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Md. He has been administrator or pastor of St. Hedwig; Immaculate Conception; and St. Edmond’s, Rehoboth Beach. Father Piekarski, 61, also has been a member of the Priests’ Council, the diocesan vocations staff and the diocesan pastoral council.
Father Paul M. Williams, 65, grew up in Alexandria, Va., and joined the Holy Name Province of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in 1975. He professed his first vows two years later and was ordained in New York City in 1986. He has been the pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Wilmington since 2013, and a year later he added the title of director of the diocesan Ministry for Black Catholics. Before that, he had spent most of his priesthood in South Carolina, first as a director of religious education, then as a guardian and pastor. He also spent a year in New York City.
Father Mark J. Wrightson, 59, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, is a parochial vicar at the St. Thomas More Oratory in Newark, where he arrived over the summer. The Wilmington native attended Christ Our King and Salesianum schools. His previous ministry in the Diocese of Wilmington includes time on the faculty and director of activities at Salesianum, along with a year as a special assistant to the school president. He also has been a parochial vicar in Florida and North Carolina, president of Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia and pastor of a parish in the Diocese of Allentown, Pa.
25 years
Father Mark A. Hushen, OSFS, 57, grew up in Drexel Hill, Pa., and attended Catholic schools in Delaware County. Since 2005, he has been president and chief executive officer of Ashley Addiction Treatment, formerly Father Martin’s Ashley, in Havre de Grace, Md., and he was provincial councilor for the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales from 2008-16. He was a parochial vicar at St. Anthony of Padua in Wilmington from 1994-96 and its pastor from 1996-2000. He has also worked as a teacher and school minister in Philadelphia and as a chaplain and director of pastoral care at Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, Pa.
