Father John Francis Sugrue, a priest of the Diocese of Camden for almost 50 years, died Friday, March 2, at the age of 74.
Father Sugrue was pastor at St. Ann, Elmer (1976-78) and St. Vincent de Paul, Mays Landing (1978-2005) before retiring in 2005.
Born Nov. 20, 1937, in Offaly, Ireland, he studied at St. Patrick Seminary in Thurles, Ireland.
He was ordained on June 10, 1962, in the Cathedral of the Assumption, in Thurles, and then travelled to America. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception, Bridgeton, where he served from 1962-66.
Msgr. William Quinn remembers first meeting Father Sugrue in 1962, when the two Ireland-born priests, along with Father M. Joseph Mannion, Father Stephen Carey, and Father Joseph Downing, were traveling from their homeland to the United States shortly after their ordinations, to serve as priests for the Camden Diocese.
Remaining friends with Father Sugrue for 50 years, Msgr. Quinn recalled a modest man with a keen intellect (“a rock of common sense,” Msgr. Quinn said) and spiritual mind, who was “always there for the people.”
In their spare time, the two would play golf, or have dinner together.
“Father Sugrue was a good, loyal friend who loved his ministry, and had devotions to the Blessed Sacrament, and Blessed Mother,” Msgr. Quinn said.
Father Sugrue served as parochial vicar at St. Peter, Pleasantville (1966-72) and St. Pius X, Cherry Hill (1972-76). He also served as regional director of the Diocesan Vocations Program; as a member of the faculty at Holy Spirit High School, Absecon; and as a member of the Marian Commission.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Thursday morning, March 8, at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Mays Landing. Interment will take place in Ireland.
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