Dialog reporter
Father Leo Philip McGann, a retired priest of the Diocese of Wilmington, died June 13 at Virtua Memorial Hospice Unit in Mount Laurel, N.J. He was 80.
Father McGann was born in Moorestown, N.J., and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Wilmington in 1971.
During his 21 years in service in the diocese, he served as an associate pastor of Holy Cross, Dover; St. John’s-Holy Angels, Newark; and St. Mary Star of the Sea, Ocean City, Md. He was named pastor of Sacred Heart, Chestertown, Md., and four years later he returned to St. Mary Star of the Sea as pastor.
His other roles in the diocese included membership on the diocesan Pastoral Commission and the Liturgical Commission.
Before entering the priesthood, Father McGann had been a member of the Christian Brothers, which he joined as a student at La Salle College. He was a teacher and administrator in Christian Brothers schools in Arlington, Va., Philadelphia, New Mexico and Canada. He was also the director general of the Baltimore province before leaving the congregation.
In 1992 he took medical retirement and moved back to New Jersey, where he lived until his death.
A viewing will be held June 18 from 7-9 p.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown, N.J., his childhood parish. The funeral Mass will be June 19 at 10:30 a.m., also at Good Counsel. Burial will follow at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Hainesport, N.J.
