Father Arthur A. Toole, 96

Father Arthur A. Toole, 96

Father Arthur A. Toole died on Oct. 2 at the age of 96. He was born the youngest of five children, son of the late Florence (Bruce) Toole and Augustine Toole. He spent his formative years in his hometown of Fort Edward. In addition to his parents, Father Toole was predeceased by his siblings, John Toole, Jean Toole Scales, William Toole and Father James Toole, and his nephew, John (Jack) Toole, and his niece, Mary Jane (Toole) Burns.

After finishing high school at Fort Edward High School, where he played basketball and ran track, he spent his first three years in St. Andrew’s Seminary in Rochester, and his last six years of seminary at St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers, where he was ordained in 1958. He later received his master’s degree in education from Siena. Following his ordination, he served in the Albany Diocese acting as a parish priest in various parishes in the greater Capital Region and taught at Cardinal McCloskey High School in Albany. His first pastorate was at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Cobleskill. After a few years there he became the pastor at St. Matthew’s Church in Voor­hees­ville, where he spent 29 happy years until his retirement in 2005. After his retirement, he continued to serve as a visiting priest at various churches in the Capital Region, including the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Bolton Landing and St. Michael’s Church in Troy.

In recent years, he resided at the Loudonville Assisted Living Residence, where he enjoyed the last years of his life.

Father Toole is survived by his first cousins, Sister Mary Bruce, John Kelleher and Janet Bruce and his nine nieces and nephews, James Toole, Kathleen Lynch, Anne Jenson, Patricia Hannon, Susan Killeen, Daniel Scales, Mary Adams, Joanne Palmer and Ted Scales, along with 19 great nieces and great nephews.

Father Toole has left us with excellent words of wisdom that he believed helped him in his life: “Do it one day at a time, and don’t give up. There is always a silver lining in everything that happens. And there is power in prayer.”

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Matthew’s Church in Voorheesville on Oct. 6. His burial was the following day at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Fort Edward.

Memorial contributions should be made in Father Toole’s memory to St. Matthew’s Church, 25 Mountainview Street, Voorheesville, N.Y., 12186.