Deacon James Chatterton, a fixture at St. Mark Parish in Greece for many years, died Sept. 15, 2021. He was 77 years old.
A Rochester native, Deacon Chatterton graduated from Rochester’s Aquinas Institute and Gannon University in Erie, Pa. He worked at Eastman Kodak Co., where he was pricing director of the company’s Office of Imaging Division. He left Kodak in 1999 rather than relocate to Florida after his division was sold, and he worked for three years for Pitney Bowes.
Deacon Chatterton and his wife, Mary Margaret, were very involved with St. Mark Parish for many years. They joined the parish in 1973, and Mary Margaret Chatterton served as a pastoral associate there for years. He was ordained by Bishop Matthew H. Clark on June 12, 1993, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester.
Becoming a deacon was “life changing,” Deacon Chatterton told the Catholic Courier in 2018, noting that he was proud to have celebrated the marriages of all three of his daughters.
“He was a very good deacon,” remarked Father Louis Sirianni, parochial vicar at St. Mark Parish.
After ordination, Deacon Chatterton was assigned to his home parish of St. Mark, and he served as the parish deacon there until 2006, when he became parish deacon at St. Lawrence Parish in Greece. He reached senior status in 2013 but continued his involvement at both St. Lawrence and St. Mark.
He helped for several years with the sacramental preparation and religious-education programs at St. Lawrence, and worked as part-time bookkeeper at St. Mark.
Deacon Chatterton also was a member of the Knights of Columbus and served as treasurer of the Men’s Club at St. Mark, according to Father Sirianni.
“He was very generous with his time. He was just a good guy to be around, there’s no two ways about it,” Father Sirianni said.
Deacon Chatterton is survived by his wife, Mary Margaret; daughters, Christine Glavin, Michele (Mark) DePetres and Amy Palermo; grandchildren, Donovan and Shauna Glavin, Jordan and Gabrielle DePetres, and Cameron and Sydney Palermo; brothers, Ronald (Carol) Chatterton and John (Kathleen) Chatterton; sister, Judy (Robert) Dayton; and brothers- and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts and cousins.
Calling hours for Deacon Chatterton will take place Sept. 19. 2021, from 2 to 5 p.m. at St. Mark Church, located at 54 Kuhn Road in Greece. His funeral Mass will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 20, 2021, also at St. Mark Church. Interment will be at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester.
Memorial donations may be made to Hildebrandt Hospice at rrhgive.org/giving (designate Hildebrandt Hospice), Aquinas Institute or Gannon University Athletic Fund.
