Father Eugene P. Gallagher

Father Eugene P. Gallagher, a retired chaplain who was the oldest graduate of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, died Nov. 27 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Warwick. He was 96, and had been a priest for 72 years.

He was a chaplain at St. Patrick’s Home in the Bronx for 18 years until retiring in 1983. He also was an Army chaplain in World War II.

Archbishop Dolan offered the Funeral Mass Nov. 30 at St. Stephen’s Church in Warwick. Father Michael McLoughlin, the pastor, was the homilist.

“The time of his life that he felt deeply grateful for was his time as a chaplain during World War II,” Father McLoughlin said.

Father Gallagher enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1942 and served until December 1945, serving in Africa, at Normandy and at the 1944-1945 Battle of the Bulge, which was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by American forces in the war.

“He went right to the Elbe River with (Gen.) Patton’s army,” Father McLoughlin said.

The Elbe was where the American and Soviet armies symbolically embraced in 1945 to mark the end of their war with Germany.

Father Gallagher “was one of a great bunch of priests who were there for our guys,” said Father McLoughlin, who said there were 147 Dunwoodie priests serving in World War II.

He also spoke of Father Gallagher’s “love for the priesthood.”

“He had many assignments, and he brought with him a great dedication and a particular love for the Eucharist,” Father McLoughlin said. “Even in his last months, he offered Mass every day.”

Father Gallagher was born in Irvington, N.J., and grew up on the West Side of Manhattan. He was ordained in 1938, and served for four years at St. Monica’s parish in Manhattan before enlisting in the Army.

Other parishes he served at were: Our Lady of the Rosary, Manhattan; Our Lady of Refuge, the Bronx; St. Joseph’s, Yonkers; St. Stephen’s, Manhattan; Our Lady of Mercy, Port Chester; and St. Mary’s, Rosebank, Staten Island.

Burial was in St. Stephen’s Cemetery, Warwick.