'Father Joe' Quigley, longtime Newman Center director, dead at 81
Rev. J. Joseph Quigley, 81, longtime director of the Newman Center and chaplain to thousands of UMass Amherst students and alumni, died June 9 in Amherst after an extended illness. “Father Joe,” as he was known to many students, was in his 50th year as a priest.
Born in Marblehead, he was the son of James Joseph and Julia G. (Harrington) Quigley. The family later moved to Ware, where he was elected class president at the high school. He entered American International College, but was drafted in into the U.S. Army and trained as a forward observer, low-speed radio operator. He was sent to Italy and served in the 5th Army as it moved northward. He later reveled in sharing stories of his wartime exploits, joking referring to himself as the “Liberator of Bologna.”
After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree at Fordham University, where he “got religion,” and then attended St. John’s Seminary in Brighton for five years. Ordained at the age of 32 in Springfield, he served four year at St. Mary’s parish in Westfield before moving to St. Brigid’s in Amherst.
When the Newman Center opened in 1963, he became the assistant director under Rev. David J. Powers, who had convinced the Diocese of Springfield to build the campus-based facility. “Back then we really had to lobby people that there was a need for some type of cohesive environment for all these young men and women,” he told the Sunday Telegram of Worcester in 1988. “No one really knew if a religious institution would work out at a state school.”
The Newman Center was a perfect match for Father Quigley, who discovered a knack for understanding the problems of young people. While he dealt with a variety of issues and conflicts, he thought the biggest facing student on campus was loneliness. To help, he ran a “date center” for lonely male and female students. “If you came in and talked to father Quigley, we lined up a match for you. I played matchmaker,” he told the Daily Hampshire Gazette in 1993.
He spent countless hours counseling students about their concerns. His advice was usually simple and straightforward: “Do what you can reasonably and leave the rest to God.”
During his years at the Newman Center, he “spiritually adopted” a dozen students, including an upset young woman who he convinced to stay in school. She later graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was the first woman to graduate from the UMass Medical School.
In 1978, he was appointed director of the Newman Center, a post he held until his retirement in 1993. His retirement celebration drew more than 600 well-wishers and tributes from legislators, local and campus officials and clergy.
Father Quigley’s personality made him one of the best known and popular priests in the diocese. He was in constant demand to deliver invocations at religious and civil ceremonies, dinners and events such as commencements, dedications and inaugurations.
His rather lengthy prayers, filled with humor and personal anecdotes, frequently drew applause and made him a difficult act to follow, as Gov. Michael Dukakis discovered at Commencement one year. After Father Quigley took credit for the nice weather, Dukakis followed him the podium and tried to claim responsibility for the sunshine, but was roundly booed by the graduates. As one observer noted, “You don’t mess ‘The Quig.’”
He was also well known for his three-point sermons. After talking for quite awhile, he would announce, “That’s the first point,” eliciting groans and laughter from the congregation.
During his career, he served as diocesan director of campus ministry and chaplain of the state American Legion, Amherst American Legion Post #148, Amherst Police Department and Amherst College and honorary chaplain of the UMass ROTC. He also emceed the Amherst Memorial Day ceremonies, was president of the Amherst Town Committee for International Students and a charter member of the Amherst Kiwanis. He was a member of the World Fathers Association and the National Diocesan Directors of Campus Ministry and a member of the board of directors of the Amherst Interfaith Housing Corporation.
In 1996, Father Quigley served eight months as the interim pastor at St. John’s Catholic Church in Hadley.
His service to campus was recognized several times. In 1983, he was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal and in 1991 he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Commencement. He was an honorary alumnus of the Amherst campus and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.
His other honors included an honorary degree from Our Lady of Elms College in Chicopee, the Distinguished Service award from the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Fr. Charles Forsyth Award for “outstanding leadership in campus ministry.”
Father Quigley leaves his sister-in-law, Jean M. Quigley; nephews Robert, James, David, John, Peter, Ned and Steve Quigley and Charles Bohn; and a niece, Catherine Fischer.
His brothers, Robert and John Quigley, and his sister, Julia Quigley McGarvey, died earlier.
Calling hours on Sunday, June 12, noon-4 p.m. in the Quigley Room at the Newman Center, followed by a 7 p.m. prayer service in the Newman Center chapel.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Monday, June 13, at 10 a.m. at the Newman Center. Burial will be in the New St. William Cemetery in Ware.
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Father Quigley in the early days
June 10, 2005.
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