OBITUARY NOTICE:
Rev. Edward F. Gallagher, Jr., SA – Franciscan Friar of the Atonement
(July 15, 1929 – January 19, 2020)
(January 23, 2020 – Graymoor, Garrison, NY). Father Edward F. Gallagher, Jr., SA, a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, passed from this life on Sunday, January 19, 2020.
Fr. Gallagher was born on July 15, 1929 in Philadelphia, PA. He attended local elementary schools and graduated from Yeadon High School in 1948. From 1949 – 1955, he served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. Fr. Gallagher attended St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia where he graduated with a B.S. degree in Philosophy and Accounting. He earned a B.D. in Theology from Catholic University, Washington D.C. He received certificates from Georgetown University, Washington D.C. in mental health disciplines; Rutgers University, New Jersey in studies of alcohol and alcoholism; and the Institute for the Crippled and Disabled, New York City in vocational rehabilitation.
Fr. Gallagher entered the Friars of the Atonement in 1965 and received the habit in 1966. He made his first profession in 1967 and professed final vows in 1970. He was ordained in 1971 at St. Columbanus Church in Peekskill, NY.
Fr. Gallagher served the Fraternity as Associate Director of the St. Joseph Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center in Saranac Lake, NY from 1971 – 1973. He was Chaplain for the Raybrook Drug Rehabilitation Center in Raybrook, NY and also for the Cloistered Community of Carmelite Sisters, Saranac Lake, NY. He was Vocation Director and Director of Candidates at Graymoor from 1973 – 1978. Fr. Gallagher was a member of the Board of Directors of the Pastoral Counseling and Consultation Centers of Greater Washington, D.C. He was Associate Pastor of Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling, VA from 1978 – 1981 before being appointed as Pastor of the church, a position he held until 1986. From 1986 – 1989, Fr. Gallagher served as Pastor of the Church of the Atonement in Windsor, Ontario. He was Director of Outreach to Parishes for Social Ministries and Director of Prison Ministry for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, VA. He also did full-time pastoral ministry at St. Mark’s Parish, Vienna, VA and was a member of the Board of Directors of Borromeo Housing of Northern Virginia, a non-profit transitional housing project for young mothers and their children. Before his retirement, Fr. Ed ministered at St. Andrew Parish, Apex, NC.
Fr. Gallagher retired from full-time ministry in 2004. He was a resident of Rehoboth Beach, DE at the time of his death.
Fr. Gallagher was the son of the late Edward F. Gallagher, Sr. and Mary (Haverty) Gallagher, both of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He was predeceased by his brothers, Thomas Gallagher and Joseph Gallagher, and his sisters, Catherine Gallagher and Mary Coppa.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, followed by Interment in the Friars’ cemetery.