REV. FREDERICK EDMUND McCAFFREY O. CARM. New York, N.Y.

The Reverend Frederick Edmund McCaffrey, O. Carm, a member of the Order of Carmelites and of the North American Province of St. Elias, died at Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, N.Y. on Thursday, May 2, 2002. He was 81 years old. Father McCaffrey was born in Oswego, New York on December 29, 1920, to Frederick J. and Elizabeth Rawley McCaffrey. He is survived by one sister, Alice Sullivan, and one brother, Alfred McCaffrey, both of Oswego, New York. He is also survived by several nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his parents and a sister, Mary Crimmins. Father Edmund McCaffrey received his habit in the Order of Carmelites, North American Province of St. Elias in 1946 when he entered the Carmelite Novitiate in Auburn, New York. At the conclusion of his Novitiate year he professed First Vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity on September 8, 1947. He professed his Solemn Vows on September 8, 1950, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 1953, in Washington, D.C. He attended Syracuse University from 1940-1941.

For the next four years, during World War II, he served his country as a member of the United States Navy, earning the nickname "Skipper." In 1947 he entered Mt. Carmel College in Auburn, New York and then Lemoyne College in Syracuse, New York during the summers of 1948-1949. He graduated from St. Bonaventure College in Olean, New York earning a Bachelors degree in 1954. As a student in Washington, D.C. between 1950-1954, Father McCaffrey completed his theological studies earning a Masters Degree in Theology in 1954.

Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1953 and graduation from college in 1954, Father McCaffrey was assigned as Teacher and Freshman Prefect at St. Albert's Junior Seminary in Middletown, New York. For the next seven years, until 1962, Father McCaffrey worked as a full-time Catholic Chaplain at the V.A. Hospital in Manhattan, New York. From 1962-1970 he served at St. Simon Stock Parish in the Bronx, New York as an Associate Pastor. He also served the Province of St. Elias during this time as its Vocation Director and Prior of the St. Simon Stock community. In 1973 he was transferred to Our Lady of the Scapular Church on 28th Street where he served as its Pastor until 1973.

From 1973-1982, Father McCaffrey served in the Provincial headquarters in Maspeth, New York as Prior of the community and as Mission Procurator for the Province. During this same period of time he resumed working as a part-time Chaplain in the V.A. Medical Center in Manhattan, N.Y. In 1982 he was transferred to Our Lady of the Scapular Church on 28th Street and in 1988 moved to the newly-merged Our Lady of the Scapular-St. Stephen's Priory on 29th Street while continuing his full-time Chaplaince ministry at the New York V.A. Medical Center in Manhattan until his retirement in 1999. He was a resident at Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm Nursing Home Facility, Mary Manning Walsh Home at 1339 York Avenue in New York, New York from 1999 until his death. Active in Provincial Offices, Father McCaffrey served as the Provincial Vocation Director from 1962-1967, Mission Procurator from 1973-1982, and served as a member of the Provincial Retirement Commission from 1982-1985. He also served as Chaplain for the Catholic War Veterans from 1956-1962 and then as Chaplain of the Veterans of Foreign Wars from 1971 until his retirement in 1999.

The Wake will be held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Carmelite Drive in Middletown, New York on Sunday, May 5, 2002, from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. A prayer service will be held at 8 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Carmelite Drive in Middletown, New York on Monday, May 6, 2002, at 11 a.m. The Very Rev. Michael T. Driscoll, O. Carm., Prior Provincial of the St. Elias Province, will officiate. Burial will be in the Carmelite Cemetery on Carmelite Drive in Middletown, New York. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Carmelite Education Fund, P.O. Box 868, Carmelite Drive, Middletown, New York 10940. Funeral arrangements under the direction of Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, Inc., Middletown.