Father Thomas P. D’Angelo

Father Thomas P. D’Angelo, a former pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Elmsford and a former chaplain of Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, the Bronx, died June 21 at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. He was 59.

He was pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2001-2006, and chaplain of Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, 1993-2001.

Cardinal Dolan offered his Funeral Mass June 25 at St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus Church in the Bronx. Concelebrants included Auxiliary Bishops Peter Byrne and John O’Hara, seminary classmates of Father D’Angelo; Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop James Massa; and Father Pat F. Rossi, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel parish, the Bronx, who was the homilist.

Father Rossi remembered his friend, whom he met while both attended Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, Queens, as “a ‘priest’s priest.’ Forty-one years of friendship, we go back a long way.”

He described Father D’Angelo as “an excellent homilist” and “a good, scholarly priest,” one who was empathetic and performed effective work in the parishes he served and as a hospital chaplain. Father D’Angelo also was an effective teacher in the archdiocese’s diaconate and catechetical programs, Father Rossi said.

“His goal was always, I suppose, to bring the presence of Christ into the lives of others through his preaching, teaching and ministry.”

He was parochial vicar of St. Pius X, Scarsdale, 1991-1993, and Our Lady of the Assumption, the Bronx, 1984-1991.

He more recently served as coordinator for international priests.

Father D’Angelo was a “very joy-filled, loquacious fellow,” Father Rossi said, and was “always looking to have a good laugh.”

“You’d go out to dinner with him or sit down to dinner and he’d break out into a song,” Father Rossi said. He did the same from time to time in his homilies.

An ardent movie buff across all genres—“he could really present to you the plots and the characterizations and the themes of movies,” Father Rossi said, Father D’Angelo was also knowledgeable about operas. “He thought he was maybe the understudy for Marlon Brando and I think also he thought was Mario Lanza from time to time. He loved a good meal and good conversation. He was a real entertainer.”

He was also prolific reader and followed New York sports teams. “A good friend to everyone he met, he will be sorely missed,” Father Rossi said.

Father Rossi said Father D’Angelo was resigned to God’s will, and was self-effacing.

“As Cardinal Dolan said, he really in his final suffering identified himself with the cross of Christ.”

After falling ill, he resided at both the John Cardinal O’Connor Pavilion and the Edward Cardinal Egan Pavilion of the St. John Vianney Clergy Residence in the Bronx. Most recently, he lived at the rectories of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus and St. Michael the Archangel, the Bronx, where he served as a Sunday associate.

Born in the Bronx, he graduated from St. Francis Prep in Queens. He began his studies for the priesthood at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston before entering St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was ordained in 1984.

The eldest of two children, he is survived by his sister, Elaine DeSouza; three nephews and a niece.