LENOIR — Father Gabriel Joseph Meehan passed away Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, at Caldwell Memorial Hospital in Lenoir. He was 89.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church at noon Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, officiated by Bishop Peter J. Jugis. Father Meehan’s body will be received at the church at 10:45 a.m. Friday for a viewing from 11 a.m. until the Mass. He will also lie in repose from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, at The Padgett and King Mortuary in Forest City.
Born July 29, 1931, in Philadelphia, he began his studies at Holy Trinity College in Holy Trinity, Ala., and then studied at seminaries in Brackney, Pa., and Winchester, Va.
On May 19, 1959, he was ordained at Winchester as a priest for the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. In 1961, he became a Trappist priest at the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, N.Y.
After 12 years of monastic life as a Trappist priest, Father Meehan came to the Diocese of Charlotte in 1973 to pursue a more active priesthood. He served for a few months as an assistant at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte and then served for three years as administrator of St. John the Evangelist Church in Waynesville. In July 1976, Father Meehan became pastor of St. Lucien Church in Spruce Pine. While serving there, he formally became a priest of the Diocese of Charlotte in January 1978. In July of that year, he was named pastor of Holy Infant Church in Reidsville.
Father Meehan also served as pastor of Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle and as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir, as well as vicar forane for the Hickory Vicariate. In June 1985, he was named pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City and served there until 2001, when he retired to Lenoir.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 1024 W. Main St., Forest City, N.C. 28043.
The Padgett and King Mortuary & Crematory was in charge of arrangements, and an online guest registry is available at www.padgettking.com.
— Catholic News Herald
GREENSBORO — Deacon Gordon Lawrence Forester passed away peacefully Aug. 1, 2020. At 97, he was the oldest deacon serving in the Diocese of Charlotte.
A family-only Mass will be offered at St. Paul the Apostle Church at 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. Others may participate by viewing it streamed live on the parish’s YouTube channel.
Deacon Forester was born July 4, 1923, in Evanston, Ill., the son of Edward George Sr. and Marie Carroll Forester. He attended the University of Notre Dame in 1941 and then as a member of the Naval ROTC program left to serve in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he married Ann Holinger and completed his degree at Notre Dame.
The Foresters moved to New York, where he worked for Chase Bank and attended night school for a master’s degree in corporate finance at NYU. He worked as a buyer for J.C. Penny Co. and then as a wholesale salesman for Imperial Reading Co., and he was an adjunct professor of marketing at a local college.
On June 9, 1979, he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., by Bishop John R. McGann. After his ordination he was assigned to St. Brigid Parish in Westbury, N.Y., where for nine years his ministry focused on serving the sick and terminally ill.
He continued this ministry after moving to North Carolina in 1988. After being assigned to St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Greensboro, he was involved in the formation of a grief support group, became an adjunct chaplain at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, and brought Holy Communion to fellow residents at Well-Spring Retirement Community in Greensboro.
Deacon Gordon faithfully served the Church for 41 years, with 32 of those years spent serving the Greensboro parish.
He loved life, traveling the world, and traveling to visit his children and grandchildren. He enjoyed family game nights, laughed often and did his best to support the spiritual growth of people around him.
He and his wife Ann were blessed with 52 years of marriage and six children before her passing in 1998.
In 2003 he married Jean Berry, and they enjoyed 10 years of marriage and companionship before her passing in 2013.
He was also preceded in death by a brother, Edward Forester Jr.
Survivors include brother Keith Forester and his children: Gordon (Larry) Forester Jr., Carol McCoy, Claire Forester, Thomas Forester and his wife Cecilia, Holly Forester-Miller and her husband Gary, Jeanne Conklin and her husband Bob. Also surviving are seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Franciscan Center, 233 N. Greene St., Greensboro, NC 27401.
Triad Cremation & Funeral Service of Greensboro was in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald