Rev. Joseph Halloran, 87

A funeral Mass was offered Nov. 9 at Immaculate Conception Church, New Lebanon, for Rev. Joseph Halloran, who died Nov. 5. He was 87 and had been a priest of the Albany Diocese for 59 years.

A native of Cohoes, he was chaplain to Brady Maternity Hospital in Albany and associate pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle parish, Delmar; St. Mary's, Little Falls; St. Thomas, Schenectady; St. Peter's, Saratoga; St. James, Chatham (where he was later administrator) and St. Patrick's, St. Johnsville. He was also chaplain for St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam and, for 30 years, for the Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth. He served as pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Castleton and then, for 29 years, of Immaculate Conception in New Lebanon and later its mission, St. Joseph's in Stephentown. He retired in 2000.

Looking back at Father Halloran's six decades of ministry, there's a common thread: He didn't want it to end, and he nudged other people into helping the Church, too.

At his New Lebanon parish, for example, when he caught youth pilfering a donation box, he made them work off their debt instead of prosecuting them. When a newcomer named Peter Quinn mentioned that he was retired, Father Halloran recruited him to be a parish council member, lector and catechist. He's now a deacon at Immaculate Conception.

In 1996, Father Halloran had had two strokes, but told The Evangelist, "I hope to put a couple more years in" as pastor. He was still serving as Catholic chaplain to troubled boys at the Berkshire Farms facility, too, and had a hard time giving that up: "Working with those troubled kids always gave me a sense of accomplishment," he noted. It would be another four years before Father Halloran retired.

Survivors include siblings Robert of West Boylston, Mass.; Leo of Greensboro, N.C.; Joan Dame of Naperville, Ill.; and Elizabeth Wall of Syracuse. Interment was in St. Peter's Cemetery, Troy.[[In-content Ad]]