In Memoriam...

Msgr. Thomas Hartman, beloved classmate, class of '63

A wake will be held at Saint Aidan’s Church, 505 Willis Avenue, Williston Park, on Friday, February 19, from 2:00 – 6:30 p.m. Mass of Transferral at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The funeral Mass will be at St. Aidan’s on Saturday, February 20 at 11 a.m.

Directions to St. Aidan's

Msgr. Thomas Hartman, the Roman Catholic priest from Long Island nationally known as half of the God Squad, a popular television show about religion, died following a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 69.

Father Tom, as he was known, became a household name with Rabbi Marc Gellman following the success of the TV show they co-hosted for 20 years on Telecare, the faith-based cable network that Hartman ran for the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The show led to a nationally-syndicated newspaper column, as well as regular TV and radio appearances on shows with larger audiences than their own, such as Good Morning America. After his diagnosis, Hartman stepped back from the spotlight and founded a charity that donated millions to find a cure for Parkinson’s.

“Our friendship produced many words, but it never needed words,” Gellman wrote in his Newsday column Wednesday eulogizing Hartman. “Tommy taught me that smiles are more important than words, and I do not need words now to remember that transformative wisdom.”

Hartman grew up in East Williston before entering the Hempstead seminary when he was in the ninth grade after passing up his dream of becoming a baseball player and instead joining the clergy like his uncle, aunts and cousins before him. He was ordained in 1971 and eight years later graduated with a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkley.

Hartman was also a parish priest at St. Vincent de Paul in Elmont and a chaplain for the Nassau County Police Department. Hartman joined forces with Gellman, the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, after the two met while discussion religion on News12 Long Island. The next day, they formed the God Squad, in which the straight-laced Hartman and quick-witted Gellman discussed morality and religion.

The duo eventually became LI’s best-known clergymen, making appearances on national cable news networks. They were even animated for an HBO children’s special based on their book of the same name, How Do You Spell God? But if they ever struggled to balance their fame and their duties, it never showed.

”I’m definitely the straight man,” Hartman told The New York Times during the height of their fame in the ‘90s. ”Marc is much funnier than I and more vocal. I’m quieter. I want Marc to be the star. To some degree I’ve had more fame. Initially he had to gain it. So it was bigger in his mind. And in many ways he’s more talented than I.”

In 2003, Hartman broke the news of his diagnoses in his newspaper column, which had only launched a year prior. He had kept it secret for four years by that point. Gellman still writes the column for Tribune Media Services, but visited Hartman weekly at the nursing home where Father Tom lived until his passing.

Hartman’s charity donations led to the formation of the Thomas Hartman Foundation for Parkinson Research in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at Stony Brook University. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Published by the Long Island Press - 2/17/2016

Newsday, Opinion: Msgr. Tom Hartman, a life devoted to God and service
Updated February 17, 2016 5:24 PM By James M. McNamara

About a week after ordination, Msgr. Tom Hartman and the Rev. James M. McNamara celebrated Mass
at an Albertson school for disabled children. Photo Credit: James M. McNamara

Msgr. James M. McNamara, at the request of the Hartman family, will deliver the homily at the Mass of Transferral, a liturgy that takes place the night before a priest’s funeral mass. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, 2/18/2016, at St. Aidan’s Church in Williston Park.

Each of us is a mystery embedded in the creative love of God. To appreciate a person we have but a glimpse here and there, a story to tell, a memory to recall.

Our history

99“Maybe 10 percent of you will become priests.” Those words resounded in the hearts of 110 freshmen on the first day at St. Pius X High School Seminary in the fall of 1959. Msgr. Tom Hartman, who died late Tuesday, and I were among them.

Despite our youth (I was 14; he was 13) and inexperience, we wanted to be priests. We were ordained together on May 29, 1971 by Bishop Walter Kellenberg. Tom was assigned to St. James Church in Seaford, and I went to St. Martin of Tours in Amityville. We were living the dream that began a dozen years before. To understand Tom, you need to see him through the lens of his vocation. He believed God was calling him to use his considerable gifts and talents to serve others as a priest. This was especially evident in his kindness — always available to people.

Serving those in need

In 1996, nurses became very concerned for women who were dying of AIDS. They were the dying poor of the day. These women had an abundance of compassion but a dearth of resources. They wanted to build a home so people would not die alone and unloved. I offered them land at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in West Babylon, where I was pastor. Then I asked myself: Who might have the heart, the resources and the connections to make this dream a reality? Tom, of course. He was well known for raising money for worthy causes. Over dinner, I asked Tom to get involved and raise the money needed to both build and operate the facility. And thus Christa House-The Jerry Hartman Residence was born and served the dying poor for a decade. Jerry Hartman was Tom’s brother who died of this dreadful disease several years before.

Journey through prayer

St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a retreat called The Spiritual Exercises. One would spend 30 days on retreat in prayer and meditation. Since people could not take 30 days away, he developed this retreat to be done amid daily life. One meets with a director several times a week to move through the experience of the spiritual exercises. In the Jubilee Year 2000, Tom asked me whether I would accompany him on this journey. What a privileged experience this was. Despite a busy schedule running Telecare and performing baptisms, marriages and funerals all over Long Island, Tom committed himself to an hour of prayer a day and to meeting with me several times a week. He would come at 6:30 a.m., park by the garage and enter near Christa House through the sliding doors that led to my living room. No one ever knew he was doing this. It went on for about six months.

Privilege of faith

Tom was full of energy and enthusiasm. That he should be ravaged by Parkinson’s disease remains a great sadness to me. At first, it seemed so subtle and then it became more visible. Slowly, and eventually, his beautiful spirit became imprisoned by the effects of this illness. In recent years, he had lived the crucifixion of Christ that some find a scandal and others an obstacle but that we, who have the privilege of faith, see as the way to life on high with a God who is purely love. In one of the meditations of St. Ignatius, he prays a prayer of acceptance: “Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me. To You, O Lord, I return it. All is Yours, dispose of it wholly according to Your will. Give me Your love and Your grace, for this is sufficient for me.” Poignant times It had been painful to visit Tom in recent years and try to reach beyond the barrier of the body to communicate with the beautiful soul within. Perhaps Tom’s greatest witness has been in these poignant times. He gave all to Christ: his memory, his understanding, all he had and possessed, and now Jesus has given him a great gift — the gift of resurrection, of life on high amid pure love. May he rest in peace.

Rev. James M. McNamara is pastor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Point Lookout and episcopal vicar of the Central Vicariate of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Steve Antaki, class of '76

Steve passed suddenly on February 11, 2016. Beloved husband of Theresa. Devoted father of Stephen, Andrew and Alexander. Loving son of Edmund and the late Alice. Dear brother of Marybeth Zeitlen and Joseph. Interment St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale. In lieu of flowers contributions to Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk @ habitatsuffolk.org OR Take Me Out To The Ballgame Foundation, Inc, C/O 3988 Keily Drive, Seaford, NY 11783

Massapequa Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Funeral at St. Rose of Lima on Tuesday, 2/17/2016 .

PETER CARR '63 Obituary

CARR--Peter F., Jr., beloved son, devoted and loyal father, loving brother and treasured friend, died on December 26, 2014 of a suspected heart attack. He was 69.

Peter was born October 20, 1945 to Peter F. Carr, Sr. and Helen B. Carr (nee Trainer) in Pawtucket, RI. He attended St. Pius X Prep Seminary, Seminary of the Immaculate Conception and Fordham University.

Peter retired from his position as an institutional sales trader at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock, AR, where he spent the majority of his professional career. Peter, known to many friends as "Pete," was an avid and voracious reader. He loved horses and was lifelong devotee of horse racing, an interest he shared with many close friends. Peter is survived by his son Kevin, mother Helen of Southampton, NY, sister Karen and her wife Yvette Christofilis of New York, sister Sharon of Southampton, NY and many dear friends and relatives. Peter was predeceased by his father Peter, Sr. in 1985. Peter, like his father, was cherished by all who knew him.

There will be a Funeral Mass at The Catholic Church of St. John The Baptist in Hot Springs, AR, on December 31, 2014 at 10am. A graveside memorial service in Coventry, RI. will be announced at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org; American Heart Association, www.heart.org; or Group For The East End, www.groupfortheeastend.org. For Peter, a small act of kindness would be the gift most appreciated.

Published in the New York Times – December 31, 2014

Dennis P. Sugrue '77, d. 8/25/2014

Dennis P. Sugrue of Stamford died Aug. 25. He was 54, passed away after a 4 year battle with brain cancer. During that time Dennis volunteered for ground breaking treatments and clinical tests in order to help all those with the disease overcome it. Dennis was a graduate of the class of ’77 St. Pius X.

Sugrue was managing director and partner at Ellington Management Group, LLC. He is survived by his wife, Donna; children, Molly and Tim; and an extended family.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Friday, Aug. 30 at St. Maurice Roman Catholic Church, 358 Glenbrook Rd, Stamford.

In lieu of flowers, non tax-deductible donations may be made to the Dennis P. Sugrue Memorial Fund c/o Lisa Wexler-Trustee, 1127 High Ridge Road #270 Stamford CT 06905.

Chi Chi (Catherine) Harley, loving wife of John Ryan ('75), d. 10/2/2013

Peter Zarba '76, January 19, 1957 - February 8, 2013

Guestbook:  http://www.mackenmortuary.com/obituary/Peter-Zarba/Island-Park-NY/1174745

Tribute website: http://mzshare.shutterfly.com/bigpete

Msgr. Francis S. Midura '62

Msgr. Midura died of a heart attack on Monday, July 30th, 2012.

Frank is survived by a sister, Mickey Margas of Hicksville, and two brothers, Joseph Midura of Glen Cove and Stanley Midura of Lattingtown.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas More Parish at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 4th.

Burial will be private.

Read entire Newsday obituary...

Jimmy Duemig Jr.

Jim Duemig's son was killed in a motorcycle accident in March, 2012. His wife Rose and he would certainly appreciate your prayers.

Frank A. Livoti

It is with great sorrow from our loss but great gratitude for all the blessings given by his life to our family that we announce the passing of our Dad from this life to eternal life on Saturday March 24, 2012.

Please come and celebrate the life of Frank A. Livoti, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and brother with us.

He was a loving husband of 63 years, a great dad of 4 sons, and a really good man.


Thomas F. Livoti, MDiv., LCSW-R, was in the first high school graduating class at St.Pius X in 1968

Tina Breuer

Beloved wife of Tony Breuer '63, passed away on Friday, March 2, 2012, after a long illness.

Please keep Tony and Tina in your prayers.

Johnny Plass '75

Beloved husband of Patricia.
Adored father of Michael, Colin, and Paige. Stepfather of Daniel.
Suddenly on November 9th, 2011, at age 54. Will be missed by family
and many loving friends.

J. Paul Cunningham - a member of the second graduating class of St. Pius, d. 1962

Paul, even though suffering from a debilitating disease and confined to a wheelchair, was an active participant in the second graduating class, via a telephone link. Please remember Paul in your prayers.