Father James P. Clark

Father James P. Clark, who served at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Mount Vernon and the Bronx for 36 years, died March 12 at Sands Point Nursing Home in Port Washington. He was 90.

Father Clark served as senior priest at St. Francis of Assisi, 2001-2009, and also served as parochial vicar there, 1973-2001.

He served for many years in Mount Vernon before the chapel there closed in 1999, and parishioners began worshipping at nearby St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Bronx.

Father Clark also served as senior priest at St. Frances of Rome, the Bronx, from 2009 until his retirement in 2011.

Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Walsh, episcopal vicar of Yonkers, South Shore and Central Westchester, was the principal celebrant of the March 18 Funeral Mass at St. Aidan’s Church in Williston Park in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Msgr. James McDonald, pastor of St. Aidan’s, was the homilist.

“He had a great devotion to the Church,” Msgr. McDonald said. “He was known for his kindness, generosity, intelligence and sense of humor.”

“He was a priest for 65 years and did an enormous amount of good,” he said.

“A lot of times the work of the priest is hidden from people and is only known to God himself. Only God would know how many people he brought to Him,” Msgr. McDonald said.

“The priest mirrors the heart of Christ and he did that extraordinarily well.”

Father Clark served as parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist, Yonkers, 1964-1973, and the Manhattan parishes of St. Andrew, 1973; St. Brigid, 1964; All Saints, 1963-1964; and St. Charles Borromeo, 1961-1963. He was parochial vicar on Staten Island at Our Lady Queen of Peace, 1954-1961, and St. Mary’s, 1952-1954.

Born in Brooklyn, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and was ordained in 1952. He held a master’s degree in pastoral counseling from Iona College.

Burial was in Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.