Oldest priest in Albany Diocese dies at 95

Rev. James Pritchard, whose memory of the Albany Diocese reached back through the tenures of five bishops, died June 10. At 95, he was the oldest priest in the Diocese at the time of his death. He had just marked his 68th jubilee of ordination.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard celebrated a funeral Mass for Father Pritchard June 12 at Holy Cross Church in Salem.

A native of Albany, Father Pritchard was ordained in 1929 and served as an assistant at St. Peter's in Troy and a teacher at Catholic Central High. From 1938 to 1955, he was chaplain at St. Peter's Hospital in Troy. He was also chaplain to the Deaf-Mute Apostolate and director of the diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses.

In 1955, Father Pritchard was named pastor of Nativity in Stuyvesant. He served there until his 1963 appointment as pastor of Holy Cross in Salem, where he stayed until his retirement in 1979.

In a 1990 interview in The Evangelist, Father Pritchard said that by the eighth grade, he had decided to become a priest because "I was attracted by the Mass."

Asked to compare Catholics of his early years with those in the 1990s, Father Pritchard said: "I see more participation on the part of the laity. There is less of that 'let-the-priest-do-everything' spirit. The Faith is just as strong as 50 years ago."

As the oldest priest in the Diocese, Father Pritchard proved an invaluable resource for Sally Light, the author of "Canals & Crossroads," the first detailed history of the Albany Diocese, written to mark the Sesquicentennial of its founding in 1847 (see order form on page 8).

His memory stretched back to Bishop Thomas Cusack, who served before the First World War and who confirmed young Jimmy Pritchard. For "Canals & Crossroads," the priest recalled Bishop Cusack's strolls in Albany that put him in contact with the daily lives of Catholics and others he met along the way. Among the people he encountered in the neighborhood was 12-year-old Jimmy Pritchard, who would tip his hat to the Bishop. The gesture was always returned.

Father Pritchard also shared stories about Rev. William Charles, the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Albany who founded Vincentian Institute. When the Pritchard house burned down, they relocated to St. Vincent's parish. When he decided to become a priest, he approached a local bank for a student loan. When the bank turned him down because he had no collateral, he sought out Father Charles, who told him: "Jim, you're going through the seminary anyway."

In his retirement, Father Pritchard spent a lot of time in prayer, especially the Rosary. "Every day," he told The Evangelist, "I pick out a mystery and try to make that my predominant thought of the day. I imagine my presence in that historic event."

Our hope is that Father Pritchard is now present in the reality of the Trinity, the resurrected Christ and His mother. May he rest, after his long journey, in the arms of the Lord.

(06-12-97) [[In-content Ad]]