Father Thomas Joyce, C.P., former pastor of Immaculate Conception Monastery parish, Jamaica Estates, died Feb. 7 at Immaculate Conception Monastery. He was 73.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Feb. 12 at the church.

A native of Pittsburgh, he entered the Passionists in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1969.

He was assigned to Immaculate Conception Monastery parish for five years as associate pastor and as pastor for 22 years until 2007 when the onset of Parkinson’s disease forced his retirement.

He also served the order as vice-director and director of Passionist students and as provincial consultor of the Province of St. Paul of the Cross. He served two terms as a member of The Tablet’s board of directors.

A statement from Father Peter Grace, C.P., said, “He loved the parishioners he served. He often said that his goal was to appreciate their ethnic diversity but to try to get people working together. Not just ‘we’ and ‘they’, he really tried to emphasize ‘us.’”

Father Joyce is survived by two brothers, Kevin and John, and one sister, Patti Klein.

Burial was in the monastery cemetery.