Cusma

Father Joseph S. Cusma

Posted

Father Joseph S. Cusma, a retired archdiocesan priest who served as an Army chaplain, died Nov. 15 at his home in Eastchester. He was 85. Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, vicar general, offered the Funeral Mass Nov. 17 at Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe, Father Cusma's boyhood parish. Homilist was Father James Kennedy, a priest of the Syracuse Diocese who was an Army buddy of Father Cusma's. A graduate of Ithaca College, where he studied music education, Father Cusma was a professional violinist and played with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra before entering St. Joseph's Seminary to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1953, and in 1956 he joined the U.S. Army as a chaplain. He served as a chaplain for 42 years, retiring with the rank of colonel. "From what the people in the military have told me, he was a good soldier-priest," said Father Cusma's brother, Anthony. "I know that he loved what he did." Born in Hugheston, W. Va., Father Cusma grew up in Tuckahoe and was the first vocation from Immaculate Conception parish. After ordination, he served in the Bronx at St. Philip Neri parish, 1953-1956, and at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 1964-1965, when he returned to the Army. In addition to his brother, he is survived by three sisters, Rose Magaletti, Erma Recine and Fedoria DeLucia. Burial was in Holy Mount Cemetery, Eastchester.

Father Joseph S. Cusma