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DIOCESAN NEWS<br />

The Funeral Mass for Fr Tim Crowley was celebrated at St Bernadette’s Church at Lalor Park. Photos: Jordan Grantham.<br />

Flock farewells a true shepherd<br />

2 January 1929 – 7 February 2017<br />

By Jordan Grantham<br />

THE FUNERAL MASS FOR Fr Tim<br />

Crowley, a much-loved priest of the<br />

Diocese of Parramatta, was celebrated<br />

at St Bernadette’s Parish, Lalor Park, on 17<br />

February. Fr Tim died in retirement in Victoria,<br />

aged 88.<br />

St Bernadette’s Church at Lalor Park was<br />

full with many relatives, priests, parishioners<br />

and supporters of Fr Tim.<br />

Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv was the<br />

principal celebrant for the Funeral Mass,<br />

which was concelebrated by the Diocese of<br />

Parramatta’s Bishops Emeritus, Most Rev<br />

Bede Heather and Most Rev Kevin Manning,<br />

priests of the Diocese and visiting priests.<br />

A large parish choir sang Come As You Are<br />

with passion and one of Fr Tim’s favourites,<br />

Like a Shepherd.<br />

Patricia Sullivan and Dennis Crowley gave<br />

words of remembrance.<br />

Fr Paul Marshall gave a beautiful homily.<br />

“Henry Lawson prophetically names our<br />

human condition …’I’m at home and at ease<br />

on a track that I know not … and restless<br />

and lost on a road that I know.’ Tim knew<br />

the many roads of life. He shepherded many<br />

along some dark and dusty roads but he knew<br />

which way he was going by the Southern<br />

Cross. For all his shortcomings – and there<br />

weren’t too many – he knew to keep the cross<br />

always before him,” Fr Paul said.<br />

Among the concelebrants was Fr Paul<br />

Foley, the only one of Fr Tim’s seminary year<br />

classmates at the funeral.<br />

Tim Crowley, the nephew and namesake<br />

of Fr Tim, was present along with many of Fr<br />

Tim’s great-nephews and nieces.<br />

“This church is like a second home to us,”<br />

Tim said. “All our christenings, weddings,<br />

funerals – everything.”<br />

In a first for the Diocese, the Funeral Mass<br />

was live streamed on Facebook and can be<br />

viewed at facebook.com/parracatholic/<br />

Students at St Bernadette’s Primary School<br />

formed a large guard of honour for Fr<br />

Tim’s hearse as it left the church. A private<br />

cremation followed the Mass.<br />

Born to Timothy and Mary Crowley in<br />

1929, Tim was the second of their six children.<br />

The family lived in North Leichhardt where<br />

Tim was educated at St Columba’s Convent<br />

and Christian Brothers’ High School.<br />

The young Tim undertook formation<br />

for the priesthood at St Columba’s<br />

Seminary, Springwood, and St Patrick’s<br />

Seminary, Manly.<br />

Ordained a priest by Cardinal Gilroy on<br />

18 July 1959, he was a priest for more than<br />

57 years, and served in parishes across<br />

the Sydney region: Clovelly (1959-63),<br />

Camperdown (1963-66), Lalor Park (1966-<br />

70), Darlinghurst (1970-72), Meadowbank<br />

(1972-74), Pymble (1975-76), Moorebank<br />

(1976), Kingsgrove (1976), South Mount<br />

Druitt (1976-79) and Lalor Park from 1979<br />

until his retirement in 2002.<br />

For Fr Tim Crowley, the priesthood was a wonderful life.<br />

In an interview with Catholic Outlook in<br />

2014, Fr Tim looked back on his early life and<br />

priestly ministry.<br />

Born and raised during the Great<br />

Depression, his earliest memories were<br />

grounded in the struggles of a warravaged<br />

community, banding together to<br />

simply survive.<br />

As the years passed, the wealthier families<br />

worked selflessly to protect the less fortunate<br />

like himself and, in time, slowly pulled the<br />

community back from the brink of collapse.<br />

It was this generosity that had the greatest<br />

effect on the developing youth and would<br />

become a cornerstone of Fr Tim’s ministry as<br />

he set about his spiritual path.<br />

“I had a pretty good life even though we<br />

were poor,” he said. “There was just this<br />

amazing sense of belonging because of<br />

these great people.<br />

“If you went to the dairy for a pint of milk,<br />

they’d give you a pint and a half. If you went to<br />

In retirement, Fr Tim enjoyed the mental exercise that a daily crossword offers.<br />

Photo: Will Luckman.<br />

the fruit shop to get some oranges they’d say<br />

take a couple of apples and bananas as well.<br />

“Everyone was willing to just give that little<br />

bit extra for each other, and I learned a lot of<br />

good things there.”<br />

At first, he questioned his calling,<br />

choosing to leave the seminary in his early<br />

teens. But the sudden death of his brotherin-law<br />

left Tim’s niece desperately in need<br />

of a father figure.<br />

So he sacrificed his own promising<br />

relationship to rejoin the priesthood and<br />

become the man this young girl needed to<br />

guide her through life.<br />

“Going back to be a priest wasn’t easy. I<br />

had a girlfriend at the time – a lovely, lovely<br />

girl – but I felt it was where I needed to be.<br />

So there I stayed, and had a wonderful life<br />

in the priesthood.”<br />

To view photos of Fr Tim’s funeral, visit<br />

www.flickr.com/photos/parracatholic/albums<br />

With Will Luckman.<br />

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F<br />

NOTRE DAME<br />

A U S T R A L I A<br />

Graduate<br />

employment<br />

rate<br />

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BY STUDENTS<br />

qilt.edu.au<br />

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APPLY DIRECT NOTREDAME.EDU.AU<br />

ND2511B | CRI<strong>CO</strong>S PROVIDER <strong>CO</strong>DE: 01032F<br />

www.catholicoutlook.org<br />

MARCH 2017 CatholicOutlook 3

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