By Peter J. Purpura

Ordained in 1949, Father Frank Labita, at age 94, is celebrating his 68th year as a priest.

His warm smile and mellowed speaking voice have not changed over the years, and in his senior years, living at the Bishop Mugavero Residence in Douglaston, it is a joy for his fellow retirees to share a meal with him. He tries to move around at meal time, so that he might interact with all of the 30-plus men one day or another, one meal or another.

Every priest well remembers his first parish. A young Father Labita arrived at Our Lady of Angels (OLA) parish, Bay Ridge, to help balance an Irish-Italian community, weighted toward the Irish. He joined Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Reilly and Fathers Jim Haggerty, Jim Sullivan, Tom Campbell and Jim McKenna. The latter two taught him to hit a golf ball, something he would come to love over the next five decades.

He was 16 years at OLA, loved by all. He recalls the parish as “a deep faith community where parishioners would go to Confession and stay in church until 10 p.m. after the Wednesday night novena prayers. So many would make a visit at the church as they exited the subway at the 69th or 77th Street stations before heading home.”

He was the director of the CCD program all those wonderful years.

In 1965, he was transfered from the south end of Brooklyn to St. Mel’s in northern Queens; again a parish of Irish and Italian mix. Once again, he would complement his Irish associates: Fathers Joe Colbert and Jim Haggerty. And, once again, he found “people of faith with deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.”

Experiences That Served Him Well

After five years at St. Mel’s, Father Labita teamed with Father Jim Sullivan at the Diocesan Religious Consultation Center, counseling mostly religious sisters, “experiences that would serve me well after I went back to parish life as pastor at St. Patrick’s in Long Island City.”

After six years at St. Pat’s, it was onto Our Lady of Grace, Howard Beach, where he would enjoy 23 years, mostly in the classrooms teaching religion to the children. “The CCD program had over 350 young people and I would prepare the teachers for each week’s program,” he recalls. He also directed the Cursillo and Marriage Encounter programs and was moderator of the Holy Name Society.

In 2005, it was time for retirement, and while a still vibrant Father Labita moved into the Bishop Mugavero Residence, he would continue to say Mass and preach at nearby parishes.

“In my retirement, I could not be more pleased than to reside at the Mugavero Residence,” he says. “It is so comforting to interact with my fellow senior priests over meals or when one of us may need assistance from another.

“An 8 a.m. daily Mass is offered by one of our own. We share many good laughs with the seminarians who stop by to chat with the dining room and house staff, with the many aides who assist those in need of more attention, with the office staff from the Tribunal and other agencies of the diocese that have an office here, and with the many visitors who stop by to say hello. And did I tell you the meals are great? What a choice of deserts!”

Father Labita is grateful for “the management services of Deacons Matt Oellinger and Stanley Galazin. And we are now also blessed to have the expertise of our Catholic Charities central office to oversee the quality of care. While we have an on-site general practice physician to assist our basic needs five plus days a week, and a full-time nurse to supplement the medical care, we are provided with transportation service when there is a need to visit various other health care specialists or for personal needs.

“I can speak for so many of my fellow retired priests with whom I live, when we say thank you to the good people of our diocese who contribute to the various funds established for our needs, most notably the Lawler Foundation that will again this November sponsor a dinner at our residence to raise money not only for our needs but for all senior priests who may be living in rectories, assisted living locations or nursing homes.”

Father Labita loves to say to everyone he meets: “I love you.” “You’re the best.” “You’re a pal.” And you might likely get all three in the same sentence!

Earlier this summer, he was at his dental office where the dentist is a Hasidic Jew. Three of the gals who work for him asked Father Labita for his blessing and he obliged individually while the dentist stood by with complete acceptance and a big smile. That’s Father Labita, doing what he has always done, being close and interacting with everyone he comes into contact with.

Editor’s note: The Lawler Dinner at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, will be held Nov. 18. Honorees for the evening include Msgr. John J. Bracken and Father Coleman Costello. Tickets may be purchased by contacting Lauren McCormack, 718-965-7375 ext. 1628 or Lmccormack@cfbq.org, or visit https://catholicfoundationbq.org/news-events/