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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 />
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MARCH 2017 CatholicOutlook 3