Obituaries

Former Riker’s Island Chaplain Dies at 77

Father Kane
Father Kane

Father Joseph P. Kane, S.J., died June 16 at Calvary Hospital, the Bronx, the day after the 46th anniversary of his ordination. Born in Union City, N.J., he was 77 years old and  a Jesuit for 58 years.
After theology studies in Santiago Chile, and service in Puerto Rico, he returned to the U.S. in 1970 to begin his ministry with the N.Y.C. Department of Corrections, serving as a chaplain at Riker’s Island Correction Facility and residing at Brooklyn Prep, Crown Heights.
While continuing his prison ministry, he then resided in the Bronx for the rest of his life. Almost his entire priestly life – 44 of his 46 years of priesthood – was dedicated to prison ministry at the detention facilities on Riker’s Island.
Burial was at the Jesuit Cemetery, Auriesville, N.Y.