Father Peter D. Gillen, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, was born on August 10, 1951, was ordained to the priesthood on February 11, 1978, and died on July 19.
Father Gillen served the Diocese of Brooklyn as pastor of the parishes of Saint Brendan, Midwood; Corpus Christi, Woodside and Saint Rose of Lima, Rockaway Beach.
He also served as parochial vicar for the parishes of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bensonhurst; Saint Francis of Assisi, Astoria; American Martyrs, Bayside; Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Ridgewood; and Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary & Saint Stephen, Carroll Gardens; as well as a transitional deacon at the parish of Saints Simon and Jude, Gravesend. Father Gillen also ministered as Director of Devotion to the Sacred Heart. Father Gillen was a member of the Priests’ Purgatorial Society.
“Father Gillen was a man of faith, hope, and love. He was an exceptional priest who loved to serve all God’s people in all the parishes he was in,” said Msgr. Ralph J. Maresca, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Astoria, who was friends with Father Gillen “for more than 50 years,” since their days in Cathedral College and Immaculate Conception Seminary. “He had a great devotion to the Eucharist; in every parish he was in, he began Eucharistic Adoration. He believed that from the Eucharist, the love of Christ would fill our lives.”
Father Samuel Korkordi, current parochial vicar at St. Brendan, served with Father Gillen for five years beginning in 2016. He remembers him as a “kind of father figure to his parish, endearing himself to every parishioner, the children, young adults, the elders, everyone. He was very popular, and he will be missed.”
A Mass of Christian Burial, with Bishop Robert Brennan as the principal celebrant and Msgr. Maresca as the homilist, was celebrated Friday, July 26, at St. Brendan Church.
Special concelebrants included Msgr. Maresca, Msgr. Michael J. Hardiman, Father Dwayne Davis, Father Joseph A. Ceriello, Father Robert Verrigini, and Father Kenneth J. Grande.
Burial followed at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, N.Y.
Sister Elizabeth Ehlers, OP, of the Dominican Sisters, Sparkill, New York, died on July 17 at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital. She was 79 years old.
Born in Queens, Elizabeth entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill on Sept. 8, 1962, and received the name Sister Mary Charles. She professed her first vows in 1964 and final vows in 1974.
Sister Elizabeth received a BS in Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY, in 1967 and an MS in Education from Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT, in 1974. Sr. Elizabeth was a certified member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.
Sister Elizabeth’s ministry in education included St. Brendan School, Bronx, (1966-1968); St. Theresa School, Bronx (1968-1969); and St. James School, Carmel, NY (1969-1975). Sister Elizabeth embraced a new ministry in pastoral care as Director at St. Adalbert Parish, Brooklyn, (1975-1984); Resident Chaplain at Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, (1984-1985); Pastoral Care Director at St. Joseph Hospital, Brooklyn (1985-2004) and Palliative Care Bereavement Consultant, Rockville Centre Diocese, Westbury, NY, for many years.
Sister Elizabeth is survived by her brother Donald, beloved nieces Donna and Denise, Fran Guastello, Sr. Catherine Marie McNeil, RSM, and Dominican sisters, associates, and friends.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, Sparkill, NY, on July 25, 2024 at 11:30AM a.m.
Visitation was celebrated on July 25 at Dominican Convent, Sparkill, NY. followed by interment in St. Agnes Cemetery.