Father George Cowan, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, was born on July 29, 1938, was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1964 and died Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Father Cowan served the Diocese of Brooklyn as Pastor of the Parishes of Saint Mel (Flushing), and Saint Rose of Lima (Midwood).
He served as Parochial Vicar of the Parishes of Our Lady of Miracles (Canarsie), Nativity of our Blessed Lord (Crown Heights), Saint Joan of Arc (Jackson Heights), Saints Peter and Paul (South Williamsburg), and St. Vincent Ferrer (East Flatbush). He was in residence at the Parishes of Holy Innocents (Prospect Park South), Immaculate Heart of Mary (Windsor Terrace), and Saint Laurence (Canarsie). Father Cowan served as Chaplain of Saint Agnes Academy High School, Nazareth Regional High School, and Saint Brendan’s High School.
Father Edward Mason, pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church in East New York, Brooklyn, said he knew Father Cowan “all my life, having grown up down the block from him in Flatbush,” and will serve as one of the special concelebrants at Father Cowan’s funeral Mass.
“People saw him as a good friend, someone they had no problem approaching,” Father Mason said of his longtime friend. “He kept in touch with many former students from St. Brendan’s and Nazareth High Schools. If I had to describe the kind of priest he was, I’d say he was somebody who walked humbly with God, and delivered the message that God walks with us.”
A Mass of Christian burial for Father George Cowan was scheduled to be celebrated Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, N,Y., with principal celebrant Bishop Robert Brennan, and homilist Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto. Special concelebrants were scheduled to include Msgr. Thomas G. Caserta, Msgr. Robert J. Sarno, Father Edward Mason, Father Marc E. Swartvagher, Father Louis J. DeGaetano, Father Thomas G. Pettei, Father Michael G. Tedone, Father Henry J. Torres and Father Russell Governale.
Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, N.Y.
Sister Loretta Scully, formerly Sister Lawrence Marita, was called home to God on Sept. 16, at 94, having been a Sister of St. Joseph for 76 years.
Growing up in Brooklyn, her parents, Cornelius and Eleanor Scully, enrolled her in Queen of All Saints Elementary School and Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School in Brooklyn.
Loretta’s family was by her side as she began her ministry in education, sharing their great spirit of love of God and neighbor with the family and inspiring Loretta’s vocation.
Education became her hallmark as she taught all grades in elementary schools for 22 years in Brooklyn and Rockville Centre.
During this time, Sister Loretta attained a BA in social studies from St. Francis College and an MA in political science from the College of St. Rose, Albany.
Sister Loretta heard another call as she became more and more aware of the plight of the disenfranchised and poverty-stricken people in Appalachia, including the coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.
She attended the Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies. For 23 years, Sister Loretta did parish work as a pastoral associate in Virginia and West Virginia, creating a welcoming space and spirit with her dear friend, Sister Mary Raymond Keane, CSJ.
Their simple residence there became a gathering place welcoming coal miners and their families and friends to a place of peace and support. They were honored for their work by the West Virginia community and parishes. Loretta’s sense of humor carried them through many tough encounters while enabling the residents to keep hope alive.
In her retirement, Loretta volunteered at St. Anne’s and St. Luke’s in Brentwood and brought a deep spirit of joy there as well.
Her funeral Mass, offered by Father Sean Gann, took place in Sacred Heart Chapel on Sept. 26, followed by burial in Calvary Cemetery in Brentwood.