Father Cyril F. Pereira
Father Cyril F. Pereira
Father Cyril F. Pereira, 93, of Troy, died Feb. 6 at the Teresian House in Albany.

A native of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, where he was born and raised, Father Pereira attended St. Alphonse’s Theological College and became an ordained priest of the Redemptorist Order in India in 1954 for 17 years prior to emigrating to the United States in 1970.

He came to the Albany Diocese in 1971 and served as an associate at the former St. Mary’s Church in Troy, and the former St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s, both in Watervliet. He served as pastor of St. Cecilia’s in Warrensburg and the former St. Patrick’s in Troy. Father Pereira, who retired in 2000, said “there is no higher calling” than the priesthood. Father Pereira is survived by several nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, the late Andrew B. and Josephine I. Pereira, he is also predeceased by his sisters, Sister Mary Edith, Sylvia DeCunha and Cleophas Pereira, and his brother, Quentin Pereira.

A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial was held Feb. 28 at St. Anthony of Padua Shrine Church in Troy. Entombment followed in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Troy. Contributions in Father Pereira’s memory may be made to: Missionary of Charity, 335 East 145th St., Bronx, N.Y., 10451 or Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17122, Baltimore, Md., 21203