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Obituary: Thomas McEntee dies at age 84
He was pastor at St. Edmund of Canterbury in Beaconsfield from 1974 to 2000
Alan Hustak
The Gazette
Friday, May 30, 2008
McEntee was awarded the Order of Canada in 1990 and named Irishman of the Year in 2002.
Gruff but charitable, strict but forgiving, Thomas McEntee
was the last of special breed of Montreal's crusty Irish Roman
Catholic priests.
He died of cancer yesterday on the eve of what would have been the
54th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
He was 84.
Long after parishioners moved out of Griffintown, McEntee kept the
spirit of the historic, impoverished Irish neighbourhood alive. On
the Feast of St. Ann each July, McEntee presided over an always well
attended outdoor mass in the park where Griffintown's parish church
of St. Ann's used to be. As a way of getting former residents of the
neighbourhood together he also instituted a service in memory of
Mary Gallagher, a murdered Griffintown prostitute whose ghost is
said to haunt the neighbourhood every seven years.
He also took part in the annual march to the Black Stone for more
than 50 years.
"He was a stickler for detail , especially a stickler for
liturgical detail. Some people thought he was aloof. But he was
generous and he always gave of himself generously," said David
Fitzpatrick, the priest who will deliver the homily at Monday's
funeral. "He was a saint. By that I mean he was a sinner trying to
do his best until the end."
Thomas Daniel McEntee, the son of a plumbing contractor, was born
on April 26, 1924. He grew up in a cold water flat on Ottawa St. in
the shadow of St. Ann's church, which was torn down in 1970.
He had strong family ties to the district - his uncle was a
Montreal city councillor Thomas O'Connell.
McEntee was educated by Christian Brothers, attended Canon O'Meara
Academy and was active in the Boy Scouts. He dropped out of high
school in 1941 to join the Canadian navy.
Once the Second World War was over he completed his high school in
Boston before entering St. Paul's seminary in Ottawa in 1949.
On May 30, 1954, McEntee became the first priest to be ordained in
St. Gabriel's Church in Point St. Charles. During the 1960s he was
priest in charge of St. Philip Neri Mission for English-speaking
Catholics in Pointe aux Trembles, then served as an assistant at St.
Kevin's parish until 1974, when he was named pastor of St. Edmund of
Canterbury in Beaconsfield. He remained there until he retired in
2000.
He was also the chaplain to HMCS Donnacona, chaplain of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians and in 1977 founded a self-help group for
executives who had been thrown out of work, Executives Available, or
Cadres Disponibles.
For his ministry he was recognized as "a positive force in the
community" and he was awarded the Order of Canada in 1990.
McEntee's contributions range from having assisted in the
establishment of local Alcoholics Anonymous recovery groups, halfway
houses for ex-prisoners, Big Brothers and Big Sisters organizations
as well as Executives Available.
"He was a very generous human being. He always found time to bring
consolation to people," said John Walsh, the pastor at St. Jean de
Brébeuf parish.
"We used to call him the hearse chaser because he went to every
funeral. He never left anyone he met out of his mind or out of his
prayers. He was always involved. He was the kind of guy who, if
there were no problems, he'd create one so he could solve it."
McEntee was a recipient of the St. Patrick's Society of Montreal
Community Service Award and in 2002 was awarded the Simon McDonaugh
Humanitarian Award by the United Irish Societies.
He was chief reviewing officer of the St. Patrick's parade in 1982,
and was Irishman of the Year in 2002. A scholarship in his name has
been established by the Irish Studies Foundation at Concordia
University.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Edmund of Canterbury
Church, 105 Beaconsfield Blvd.