Father John Durkin

Posted

Father John Durkin, pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Amenia for 21 years, died May 6 at Viera Hospital in Viera, Fla. He was 79.

Father Durkin served at Immaculate Conception from 1988 until his retirement in 2009. Following his retirement, he served for six years as a weekend associate at St. John the Evangelist parish in Viera.

Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Walsh offered the Funeral Mass May 14 at Immaculate Conception. Father John Britto Antony, C.S.C., delivered the homily.

Father Britto Antony, pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Viera, said a Memorial Mass will be offered at the Florida parish on Saturday, July 13, at 10 a.m.

“We have a priest who was a shining star and truly showed what it was to be a priest,” Father Britto Antony said. “His love for the Church was very visible. He loved the Church, loved to celebrate Mass and loved people.”

Father Durkin taught at John S. Burke Catholic High School, Goshen, 1982-1988, and Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx, 1970-1982.

He also served as parochial vicar of St. Frances de Chantal parish, the Bronx, 1967-1970.

His homilies were all real life stories, and he would be brief, to the point and drive home a message. He would bring children to the altar to talk to him at children’s Masses. There were New Yorkers here who struck a bond with him,” Father Britto Antony said.

Father Britto Antony visited Father Durkin during his final hours.

“As soon as he saw me, he said I love you, I love the Church, I love people,” Father Britto Antony said. “Literally, those are the last few words he spoke. He was a man filled with love for the Church.”

Born in Waukegan, Ill., he graduated from Archbishop Stepinac High School, White Plains, and Xavier University in Cincinnati before entering St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. Cardinal Francis Spellman ordained him in 1967.

His sisters, Mary Ann Nordhauser, Lorraine Pagliocca and Joan Farone, and his brother, Brian Durkin, survive him.

Burial was in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne.

Father John Durkin