Msgr. Michael J. Coyne, 94, founding pastor of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Absecon, died Dec. 31. He was a priest of the Diocese of Camden for 69 years.
“We’re saddened at his passing, but singing praises to God for allowing us to experience the love of Christ through Msgr. Coyne,” said Father Cosme de la Peña, current pastor of the parish.
“He instilled Jesus Christ in minds and hearts,” he said of the first pastor of the parish, which has grown to 2,500 registered families. “The people remember him as the embodiment of Christ’s goodness.”
Friends and family gathered for Msgr. Coyne’s Mass of Christian Burial at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish on the morning of Jan. 8; others watched on the parish livestream, including from Ireland. Father Patrick Brady, a retired priest of the Diocese, recalled a brother priest with a “heart of gold … dedicated, witty, humorous, with a capacity for friendship with people from all walks of life.”
Turning to the main celebrant, Bishop Dennis Sullivan, and Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Williams, Father Brady remarked that in Msgr. Coyne’s passing, “you’ve lost one of your best.”
“He walked by faith, not by sight. His faith shone most radiantly when he celebrated the Eucharist.”
He said Msgr. Coyne carried throughout his almost 70 years of priesthood the constant “smell of his sheep.” The shepherd “always knew how important it was to be close to people, in their daily lives, in their joys and sorrows.”
“The good that he did will not be interred with his bones. It will live on in the parishes and churches of the Diocese of Camden,” Father Brady said.
Bishop Sullivan said Msgr. Coyne was a great priest who “took the people to God” and was fond of “riding his bicycle … out to the homes, greeting the people. The people loved him, the people laughed with him, the people prayed with him.”
Inspiring vocations
Msgr. Coyne was born June 3, 1930, in County Mayo, Ireland, and was one of nine children. He studied at Saint John’s Seminary in Waterford, Ireland.
After being ordained in Ireland on June 19, 1955, he moved to the Diocese of Camden; his first assignment was as parochial vicar of Sacred Heart in Camden, from 1955 to 1960.
Other assignments as parochial vicar included Saint Teresa, Runnemede (1960-1964); Holy Name, Camden (1964-1965), and Saint Joan of Arc, Camden (1965-1967).
After serving as administrator at Saint Thomas the Apostle, Brigantine, he became pastor of Saint Ann Parish in Elmer, serving there from 1967 to 1969. He then became pastor of Saint Rose of Lima, Newfield (1969-1972), and later at Saint Nicholas, Egg Harbor City (1972-1975).
On Jan. 17, 1975, he became the first priest of the new Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, formerly a mission of Assumption, Pomona. He celebrated its first Mass at Saint Ann’s Chapel in Absecon. He faithfully served that community for more than a quarter-century, before retiring in 2001.
Along with his time as a parish priest, Msgr. Coyne was dedicated to various other pastoral ministries, including as hospital chaplain at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Camden.
After his retirement to Villa Raffaella in Pleasantville, he continued to assist South Jersey’s faithful on weekends in Atlantic City parishes, first Our Lady Star of the Sea, and then Saint Monica.
Father Joseph Pham, former pastor at Our Lady Star of the Sea, remembered Msgr. Coyne as a sincere man of few words. Adding that Msgr. Coyne “loved to be with the people,” Father Pham said it wasn’t uncommon for the retired priest to spend almost an hour after Mass with the faithful.
“He was always willing to serve, and his zeal for his vocation inspired me,” Father Pham said.
Looking out for others
As Tom Wilk puts it, his life might have been very different if Msgr. Coyne hadn’t entered his family’s life in the mid-1960s. Wilk’s father, Thomas, died in May 1965. Wilk’s mother, May, was left to raise children Barbara (then 12) and Tom (9).
Months later, May received a call from then-Father Coyne, who recommended that she go out on a date with Jack Porter, also a recent widowed spouse.
“He’s a good guy,” were the words of the priest, recalled Tom Wilk, a parishioner at Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish in Glassboro.
May agreed, and the two had their first date at the Cherry Hill Inn, where they heard now-Venerable Fulton J. Sheen speak. They were married July 16, 1966, at Saint Church in Westville. Father Coyne was the officiant.
“Father Coyne was always very friendly and outgoing,” Wilk said.
Shortly after his retirement, Msgr. Coyne spoke with “The Irish Echo,” the oldest Irish American newspaper in the United States, on his ministry in the Diocese of Camden.
“I suppose people will always ask me what’s my favorite memory during all those years of service, and I always say that it’s not the churches or the Masses or the celebrations,” he was quoted as saying. “To me, the joy comes from the people and seeing them work together as a united group with one goal. Yes, that’s my favorite memory all right.”
A viewing was held at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church on Jan. 7-8, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial. The Rite of Committal and burial followed at Holy Cross Cemetery, Mays Landing.
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