PORT JERVIS, N.Y. — Fr. Anthony F. Moore, OFM, 85, a professed Franciscan friar for 64 years and a priest for 59 years, died on Nov. 23, 2010, at Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis. He had been a priest at St. Joseph Church in Winsted for 10 years.
Fr. Moore was born on Sept. 3, 1925, in Flushing, N.Y. The child of Blanche (Stab) and Patrick Moore, he received the name William Gerard at his baptism.
He attended the parish grammar school, St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing and St. Michael High School in New York City, (1939 to 1941). He then studied at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y., 1941 to 1945.
He was received into the Order of Friars Minor, Holy Name Province, on Aug. 13, 1945, at St. Bonaventure Church in Paterson, N.J., and professed first vows there on Aug. 14, 1946, before Fr. Bertrand Campbell, OFM.
He pursued philosophical studies from 1946 to 1948 at St. Stephen Friary, Croghan, N.Y., and St. Anthony Friary, Butler, N.J., receiving a B.A. from St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y., in 1948, and then theology at Holy Name College in Washington, D.C., from 1948 to 1952. He professed final vows there on Sept. 17, 1949, before Fr. Thomas Plassmann, OFM.
He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1951, at Mount St. Sepulchre, the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., by Most Reverend John McNamara, Auxiliary Bishop of Washington.
Fr. Moore’s first assignment was professor of sociology at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., from 1952 to 1953 and 1961 to 1965. He then served in parochial ministry for most of his religious life as pastor of the following parishes: St. Francis Xavier, Tokyo, Japan, 1953 to 1961; St. Stephen’s, Croghan, N.Y., 1965 to 1973; St. Anthony of Padua, Yulan, N.Y., and Sacred Heart mission church, Pond Eddy, N.Y., 1973 to 1977 and 2002 to 2010; St. Mary’s, Americas, Ga., 1977 to 1979; Holy Cross, Callicoon, N.Y.,1979 to 1987; St. Mary’s, Obernburg, 1990 to 1992, St. Joseph, Winsted, 1992 to 2002. He also served as chaplain from 1987 to 1990 at The Family School in Obernburg.
Fr. Moore is survived by his sister, Sister Mary Felicia, R.G.S., of Marlborough, Mass., a member of the Good Shepherd Sisters; and his brother, Fr. Donald J. Moore, S.J., of Bronx, N.Y., a member of the Jesuit community.
Fr. Moore was predeceased by two brothers, Patrick W. Moore and Fr. Robert A. Moore; and two sisters, Sr. Mary Kenneth, O.P., and Sr. Blanche Marie, O.S.U.
Memorial contributions may be made to: The Franciscans, St. Anthony’s Guild, 4 Jersey St., East Rutherford NJ 07073-1012.
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