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Deacon 25th Anniversaries
Lives of Faith
Deacon Milestones
The Church of Trenton is blessed to have among its number permanent deacons who share their gifts and talents with the parish communities they DEACON serve. Though their stories may be diverse, their goal is
ANNIVERSARY 25 �� YEARS �� the same: to aid and accom pany the faithful on their heaven-bound journey. -
Deacon Robert Armstrong
Deacon Robert Armstrong was born in 1953 in Orange. He attended Washington School and Union High School, both Union.
Striving, in his words, to “bring Christ to the people of God,” he pursued the diaconate and was ordained May 11, 1996, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
Deacon Armstrong served as an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist and lector in St. Mary Parish, Barnegat, where he also conducted Communion services in local nursing homes. The deacon worked as a cemetery manager, then a pastoral associate in St. Elizabeth Parish, Avon. After its merger with Ascension Parish, Bradley Beach, to become St. Teresa of Calcutta, Bradley Beach, he continued on as pastoral associate there.
“I have the opportunity to serve, not be served,” the deacon noted.
Deacon Armstrong and his wife, Mary Susan, have three children and two grandchildren. Deacon James L. Casa
Deacon James L. Casa was born in New York in 1952. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Astoria, N.Y., and Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School, East Elmhurst, N.Y., before graduating from York College of the City University of New York, Jamaica, N.Y., in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He was ordained a deacon May 11, 1996, in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, by Bishop John C. Reiss.
Deacon Casa has ministered for Sacred Heart Parish, Mount Holly, for his entire diaconate, assisting the faith community as a Rite of Christian Initiation instructor; bereavement minister, parish study team representative, pre-Cana team member (with his wife, Emmy); men’s spirituality program coordinator, chaplain for the Knights of Columbus council and Columbiettes council, and sacramental preparation. His community service has included chaplaincy for the Mount Holly Police Department; prison ministry at the Burlington County Jail; trustee for
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Continued from 49 the Burlington County library; board member on the New Lisbon Developmental Center, New Lisbon; spiritual director at the Hampton Behavioral Health Center, Westampton, and regular participation in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue programs with the region’s non-Catholic clergy.
Deacon Casa has also served as Burlington Vicariate representative for the diocesan Council of Deacons, and served on the board of the diocesan Catholic Charities Social Policy Committee and the Burlington County Board for Catholic Charities. In 2020, he received the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton Guardian Angel Burlington County Light of Hope Award.
“After 25 years, I continue to be humbled in my serving, not only the good people of our parish, but to take the love and compassion of the Eternal Christ to all who I encounter, beyond the parish boundaries,” Deacon Casa said.
Now retired, Deacon Casa was employed by Burlington County for 23 years as senior administrative analyst for transportation, serving as an advocate for senior citizens and disabled residents. He and his wife, Emmy, have been married since 1975. They have two adult children.
Deacon Silvirus Galvan
Deacon Silvirus Galvan was born in 1946 in Teaneck. He attended St. John School, Bergenfield, and graduated from St. Peter’s Preparatory School, Jersey City, in 1964. He enrolled in a Jesuit seminary for five years of study, then left to study at St. Peter’s College (now University), Jersey City, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in urban studies in 1971. He later earned a master’s degree in urban education and community affairs from William Paterson College (now University), Wayne, in 1979.
Deacon Galvan worked for the U.S. Postal Service, then the Newark branch of the Department of Housing and Urban Development until he heard the long-ago call to serve the Church, this time as a deacon instead of a Jesuit priest. He was ordained May 11, 1996, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. He has served his entire ministry in the church community which is now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Lakewood.
Today, Deacon Galvan operates a website of homiletic resources and sells religious vestments and books. He and his wife, Doroth, have three children and three grandchildren.
The Parish Community of Incarnation-St. James Church Congratulate Deacon James Alessi
For 10 years of faithful service
1545 Pennington Road • Ewing
Deacon John Hanna
Deacon John Hanna was born in 1937 in Youngstown, Ohio. He attended the city’s St. Dominic School and Ursuline High School before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Youngstown University in 1959. He is a certified compensation professional.
His move to New Jersey and enrollment in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Whitehouse Station, led him to a decision to serve his fellow Catholics. He recalled, “I enjoyed serving my parish and I responded to a call from the Holy Spirit to serve as a deacon,” and was ordained for the Diocese of Metuchen by then-Bishop Edward T. Hughes May 5, 1996.
At Our Lady of Lourdes, Deacon Hanna served as an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist, and was a leader for Pre-Cana and the RENEW program. Now an extern deacon serving in St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, Lavallette, his ministry includes leadership of a faith sharing group.
Deacon Hanna and his wife, Donna, have six children and 2 grandchildren. Deacon James Hendrix
Deacon James Hendrix was born in 1943 in Pleasant Hope, Mo. He attended elementary school in Kenoma, Mo., and graduated from Lamar High School, Lamar, Mo., in 1961.
Upon his relocation to New Jersey, the future deacon became a member of St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Milford. His pastor there approached him to pursue the diaconate, and he earned that certification from the College of St. Elizabeth School for the Diaconate, Morristown, in 1996. Deacon Hendrix was ordained May 5, 1996, for the Diocese of Metuchen by Bishop Edward T. Hughes.
While in the Metuchen Diocese, Deacon Hendrix served as a lector, an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist, a charismatic prayer group leader, a Bible study leader, in Baptism preparation, in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and restarted the parish’s Holy Name Society.
Deacon Hendrix has been employed as an engineer by Honeywell, Morris Plains; Olivetti Corp., Somerville, and Digital Equipment Corp., Piscataway, until his retirement. The extern deacon now ministers in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Whiting. He and his wife, Marian, have two children and three grandchildren. Deacon James Manaloris
Deacon James Manaloris, who ministers in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Maple Shade, was born in New York City in 1946. He attended Bethpage, N.Y., Elementary and High School, then began a 34-year career with Occidental Chemical, Burlington, Pa., as a quality control supervisor. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in 1974.
A priest friend encouraged him to pursue the diaconate, “and after much discernment, I realized it was a call I could not say ‘no’ to,” he recalled following his May 11, 1996 ordination by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
Deacon Manaloris served in prison ministry at Riverfront State Prison, Camden, and Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, Crosswicks/Bordentown, as well as a chaplain in South Woods State Prison, Bridgeton. The deacon also served as a religious education teacher, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, a member of the Holy Name Society, Pre-Cana coordinator, and a Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus.
Deacon Manaloris and his wife, Phillis, have one daughter and one grandchild. Deacon Michael F. Mullarkey
Deacon Michael F. Mullarkey was born in 1949 in Newark. He attended St. Charles Borromeo School, Newark, and Irvington Technical High School, Irvington, before graduating from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey, Ewing) with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1980. Deacon Mullarkey earned a master’s degree in human development from Fairleigh Dickenson University, Teaneck, in 1983, and a master’s degree in Theology from Georgian Court University, Lakewood, in 2012.
“As a young man, I felt the need to serve my country in the military,” the deacon said of his service in the United States Navy then as a police officer, starting in Newark for a year and then transferring to Brick Township as it was first established with badge #5. He continued, “Many times I felt the presence and assistance of God in how to best serve the public. As a result of prayer, this transformed into a desire to serve God and I became aware of God’s call to the diaconate.”
He answered that call by his ordination as a deacon by Bishop John C. Reiss May 11, 1996. While serving in Epiphany Parish, Brick, he ministered as a VIRTUS trainer, a minister of consolation, a disaster response crisis counselor and instructing in Effective Communications and Pastoral Care for the Diocese.
Now retired, Deacon Mullarkey has been employed as a crisis counsellor by the New Jersey Department of Homeland Security, at St. Barnabas Hospital, and The Salvation Army, most notably during Superstorm Sandy and five years following it, and presently with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deacon Mullarkey was trained as a board-certified chaplain for St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa., and was certified spiritual director in the Upper Room Retreat Center, Neptune.
Deacon Mullarkey and his wife, Sandra, have been happily married for 48 years, and have four children and four grandchildren.
Deacon Gary Richardson
Deacon Gary Richardson was born in Brockton, Mass., in 1951. He attended the town’s Keith Elementary School and Brockton High School before
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Continued from 51 earning his pilot’s license in 1967 and entering the U.S. Air Force in 1969. He attended the Air Force’s community college and did further course work through Dayton University.
During the course of his 21-year armed services career, Deacon Richardson rose to the position of chief loadmaster and became a certified combat aircrew instructor, NCO of the Year, NCO Academy graduate, attended air operations school and technical instructor school and was a decorated military veteran with membership in the Veterans of Foreign War, Disabled American Veterans, and the American Legion.
“I heard about the diaconate while on active duty,” he recalled. “Upon my retirement, Deacon Anthony Tunney guided and director me toward the formation.” He was ordained by Bishop John C. Reiss May 11, 1996, in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and assigned to Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown.
Deacon Richardson has ministered as president of the PTA, school board president, president of the parish council and head of altar servers. He also participated in Baptismal preparation and marriage ministry, and was a chaplain for the Florence Township Fire Department.
Deacon Richardson and his wife, Virginia, have three children and four grandchildren. Deacon William Rowley
Following a desire to “show people love for Christ and our Church,” Deacon William Rowley celebrated 25 years as a deacon serving in his home parish of Sacred Heart, Mount Holly.
Born in Metuchen in 1931, Deacon Rowley married his wife, Alice, in 1955, and together the couple raised five children before his journey to the diaconate began with suggestions from his pastor and fellow parishioners. He already volunteered as Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and lector – but it wasn’t until he attended a parish Mass one evening that he really felt the working of the Holy Spirit.
When Deacon Rowley met Alice in the kitchen where she was entertaining a few of the couple’s friends, she inquired where he had been. “I told her I went to Sacred Heart, and my friends said, ‘You look radiant!’ I told them, ‘I feel radiant!’ I just felt like I got a piece of heaven that night.”
After ordination by Bishop John C. Reiss on May 11, 1996, he ministered in various roles at Sacred Heart – starting a parish Bible study, teaching sixth grade religious education classes and assisting with classes for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. He also offered a First Friday Communion Service at Virtua Memorial Hospital’s Rehabilitation Center before the pandemic. Deacon Patrick Martin
St. Mary Parish, Barnegat
d
D____________________ Heavenly Father,
since the time of the Apostles you have inspired the Church to commission certain members to assist in a special way in the pastoral mission of Christ. Bless the deacons and all other ordained and non-ordained ministers that they may be humble and faith-inspired in their service. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
–Catholic.org
