Father Emmett J. Halloran, a priest of the Diocese of Rochester for 53 years, died March 21, 2004, at the age of 78.
Father Halloran, a native of Rochester, was educated at the school of his home parish, Blessed Sacrament. He attended St. Andrew’s and St. Bernard’s seminaries in Rochester and was ordained June 3, 1950, by Bishop James Kearney. He served as assistant pastor at St. Patrick’s Parish in Seneca Falls until 1951, when he was appointed assistant pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Newark, where he served until 1956.
In July 1956 he began serving at St. Andrew’s Seminary, where he taught history and English for the next 11 years. In 1967, he became rector of King’s Preparatory Seminary, where he remained until the school’s closing in 1970.
It was while working as a faculty member at King’s Preparatory that Father Albert Delmonte met Father Halloran. Father Delmonte said working with Father Halloran was a great experience.
“He was wonderful, really. The faculty, the students and the students’ parents thought very highly of Father Halloran and really respected him,” Father Delmonte said.
After the closing of King’s Preparatory, Father Halloran was appointed pastor of St. Columba’s Parish in Caledonia and St. Patrick’s Parish in Mumford, where he served until 1978. Then he was appointed pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Greece, where he remained for the next 10 years. In 1988, Father Halloran became pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Macedon, and served there until his retirement in June 1996.
After retiring, Father Halloran was invited to live at St. Mary’s Parish in Canandaigua, where he helped out whenever he could and did whatever was asked of him, according to Father Thomas Mull, pastor. He preached, celebrated baptisms and visited the sick in the hospitals, Father Mull said.
“He was a very easygoing guy. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a very dry wit, and he was very generous with his time. He was very good to us. We’re very fortunate,” Father Mull said.
Father Halloran enjoyed listening to classical music, loved the opera and was well-known for his sense of humor, Father Delmonte said.
“He was a wit. He was just a wonderful person to talk to. He was quiet, and kind of reserved. He was a very kind priest, a priest’s priest. We’re going to miss him,” Father Delmonte said.
Father Halloran is survived by his brother, Michael Halloran of Bloomfield, and several nieces and nephews.
He will lie in state at St. Mary’s Church in Canandaigua from 2-5 p.m. March 25. An evening prayer vigil, at which Father Delmonte will speak, will follow. Bishop Matthew H. Clark will preside at a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. March 26 at St. Mary’s. Interment will be in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Penn Yan.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Mary’s Parish, 95 N. Main St., Canandaigua, NY 14424. The family requests the courtesy of no flowers.
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