[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1359-E1360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE COMMUNITY SERVICE OF REV. ROYAL J. GARDNER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN W. OLVER

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 18, 2001

  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me 
in paying tribute to the Reverend Royal J. Gardner, who on June 7, 
2001, celebrated his 50th anniversary of his ordination to the 
priesthood.
  Since 1989, Reverend Gardner has faithfully served as the parochial 
vicar of Sacred Heart Parish in Pittsfield, MA. Reverend Gardner 
continues to have unwavering dedication and complete devotion to the 
many communities

[[Page E1360]]

and thousands of families he has served over the years. I am proud to 
know of the accomplishments of Reverend Gardner over the last 50 years 
and wish him many more years of service.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring the community services of 
Rev. Royal J. Gardner. I am including for the Congressional Record a 
copy of a recent article that appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on June 
16, 2001, that details his extraordinary career.

                 Sacred Heart Vicar Celebrates 50 Years

       Pittsfield.--The Rev. Royal J. Gardner, parochial vicar of 
     Sacred Heart Parish, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his 
     ordination to the priesthood June 7.
       A commemoration of the event took place June 10, on the 
     50th anniversary of his first Mass. The Mass at Sacred Heart 
     was concelebrated by Gardner and several visiting priests. 
     Approximately 400 friends and parishioners attended a 
     reception that followed in the school hall.
       Gardner was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 28, 1924 to 
     Royal C. Gardner and Beatrice Dwyer Gardner Furer. He was 
     educated at St. Mark's Grammar School and St. Augustine's 
     High School in Brooklyn. He graduated from Providence (R.I.) 
     College in 1945 and began his study for the priesthood at the 
     Dominican House of Studies in Springfield, Ky., the St. 
     Joseph Dominican House of Philosophy in Somerset, Ohio, and 
     the Dominican House School of Theology in Washington, D.C.
       He was ordained a priest in the Dominican Order on June 7, 
     1951, at St. Dominican's Church in Washington by auxiliary 
     Bishop John McNamara.
       Gardner's first assignment was to St. Vincent Ferrer Church 
     in New York City. He then became dean of admissions at 
     Providence College, a position he held from 1955 to 1968. He 
     served as a retreat director at the St. Stephen Dominican 
     Retreat House in Dover.
       He was assistant to the Dominican provincial of St. 
     Joseph's Province in New York City from 1974 to 1980.
       In 1989, Gardner, wishing to return to parish work, was 
     incardinated by the Rev. Joseph Maguire, bishop of 
     Springfield. Incardination is the process by which priests 
     from one diocese are accepted into another diocese for 
     service.
       Gardner spent several months at St. Joseph's in Pittsfield 
     before he was assigned to Sacred Heart as parochial vicar in 
     September 1989. Because he is not yet ready to retire from 
     the active priesthood, at the end of June he will move to St. 
     Teresa's Church to assist the Rev. John Varley.
       Gardner has traveled widely in the past and has assumed the 
     responsibility of directing the gardening on the church's 
     ground over the years.

     

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