‘A Beloved Presence’ After 9/11 Tragedy
Msgr. Martin T. Geraghty, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, died on April 9 at age 83. Msgr. Geraghty was ordained to the priesthood on December 16, 1964. He served the Diocese of Brooklyn as pastor of the parishes of Saint Robert Bellarmine (Bayside) and Saint Francis de Sales (Belle Harbor). He also served as parochial vicar for the parishes of Saint Joan of Arc (Jackson Heights) and Saint Elizabeth (Ozone Park).
Msgr. Geraghty was also a faculty member at Cathedral College, and he was a member of the Priests’ Purgatorial Society.
On September 11, 1989, Msgr. Geraghty was named Prelate of Honor to His Holiness. “Msgr. Geraghty was a consoling, loving, and beloved presence to his parishioners at St. Francis de Sales, who presided over many, many funerals of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks,” said Msgr. Sean Ogle, chairman of the board of DeSales Media, who was pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Far Rockaway at the same time Msgr. Geraghty was serving at St. Francis de Sales. “He was a fine priest and a solid man of faith.”
A funeral Mass for Msgr. Geraghty was celebrated Friday, April 14, at Saint Francis de Sales Church, Belle Harbor. Burial followed at Saint Peter’s Cemetery on Staten Island.
Sister Jean Dominici De Maria, O.P., died April 10, at age 84. She had faithfully served her God as a Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville for 67 years. Sister Jean, whose birth name was Barbara, grew up with her family in Woodhaven, and attended St. Thomas the Apostle Parish School. She continued her education with the Dominican sisters in St. Agnes High School, College Point.
In 1956, she entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville and pronounced her first vows in 1958 and her final vows in 1961. Sister Jean Dominici earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and achieved an additional Master of Art from Long Island University Post and a Doctorate in Art/Art Education from NYU.
In 1980, Sister Dominici began her long tenure of service and dedication to the Molloy University community. She retired in 2013 with the rank of full professor. After retirement, she volunteered at Cabrini Residence in Amityvillle until illness caused her move to Our Lady of Consolation Residence in 2018 and Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse in 2020.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held April 14 at St. Albert Chapel followed by interment in St. Dominic Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
Sister Patricia Ann Walsh, FCSJ (formerly known as Sister Agnes de Sales), passed away April 2 at age 86. Pat grew up in Holy Name Parish. After graduating from Bay Ridge High School in 1955, she entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph. As Sister Agnes de Sales, she began her teaching ministry with the second and third grade children at St. Martin of Tours. Sister Agnes went on to teach at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Transfiguration, St. Benedict Joseph Labre, and St. Francis de Sales. After over 30 years teaching elementary school, she devoted herself to the service of the people at Saint Francis de Sales Parish in Belle Harbor. On April 5, family and friends joined in the Eucharistic Liturgy presided over by Father Bill Sweeney and Father Jim Cunningham. Interment was in Calvary Cemetery in Brentwood.