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Father Gerard P. Travers, who served as pastor of St. Patrick’s parish in Highland Mills for 20 years, died Dec. 6. He was 82.
Father Travers was at St. Patrick, 1993-2013. He retired in 2013, residing at Annunciation in Crestwood for one year before taking residence at Holy Family Church in New Rochelle for the last six years.
He served at St. Lawrence O’Toole, Brewster, as pastor, 1986-1992, and parochial vicar, 1965. He was parochial vicar of St. Catharine, Blauvelt, 1979-1986; Holy Family, the Bronx, 1976-1979; Our Lady of Mercy, the Bronx, 1971-1976; St. Thomas of Canterbury, Cornwall-on-Hudson, 1966-1971; and St. Clement, Staten Island, 1965-1966.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 14 at Holy Family, with retired Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh as celebrant and Msgr. Dennis P. Keane, pastor of Holy Family, as homilist.
“I will miss his friendship,” said Msgr. Keane, who knew Father Travers for more than half a century. “He was very generous. When people did things for him, he was very appreciative of it. He was a good friend.”
Msgr. Keane said Father Travers was an active retiree, celebrating Masses regularly at Holy Family and each Sunday at the Ursuline convent. He also walked 2.5 miles per day, rode a bicycle for exercise and skied after his 80th birthday.
“He was very quiet, but very active,” Msgr. Keane said. “He was a great listener. He would visit the sick constantly.
“He loved being a parish priest.”
Born in Mount Vernon, he graduated from Cathedral Prep in Manhattan and studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. Following his ordination in 1965, he received a master’s degree in pastoral counseling from St. John’s University, Queens.
His brother, John, and sister, Gladys, survive him.
Burial was in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne.
