Father Kevin Lynch, M.M.

Father Kevin Lynch, M.M., a missioner to the Philippines and Guatemala, died Nov. 14 at Mission St. Teresa’s in Ossining. He was 77.

He was assigned to the Philippines in June 1961 and worked on the island of Mindanao ministering to the local Dabueno-speaking population as well as to the Mandaya- and Mansaka-speaking aboriginal inhabitants. He became pastor of a parish in Compostela in 1964. In 1977 he ran afoul of the Philippine government after signing a petition supporting workers’ rights to join labor unions. When he returned home to attend his father’s funeral in New York he was denied re-entry to that country.

He was then reassigned to Guatemala and served in Chiantla, Heuhuetenango. Though he retired in 2006 he continued to reside in Guatemala. He returned to the Unites States earlier this year.

Born in New York City, he entered the Maryknoll Junior Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pa., in 1951. He pronounced perpetual vows in 1960 and was ordained a priest in 1961. He held a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and a master’s in religious education from Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining.

A brother, Alan, survives him. A Funeral Mass was offered in Queen of Apostles Chapel in Ossining on Nov. 19. Burial followed at Maryknoll Society Cemetery in Ossining.