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Fall 2005 Departments
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Extended Family
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Goodbye Father Joe
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Rev. J. Joseph Quigley, 81, longtime director of the Newman Center and chaplain to thousands of UMass Amherst students and alumni, died this past June in Amherst. “Father Joe,” as he was known to many students, was in his 50th year as a priest.
The Marblehead native served in WWII as a forward observer, low-speed radio operator. After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree at Fordham University, then attended St. John’s Seminary in Brighton. He was ordained at the age of 32 in Springfield.
When the Newman Center opened in 1963, he became assistant director. The Center was a perfect match for Father Quigley, who discovered a knack for understanding the problems of young people. He thought the biggest issue facing students 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.”
In 1978, he was appointed director of the Newman Center, a post he held until his retirement in 1993. 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. Rev. J. Joseph Quigley is buried in the New St. William Cemetery in Ware. |
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In Memoriam
Goodbye Father Joe
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