Father Philip Brady, 1918-2022

Father Philip Walter Brady, a priest from the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who resided in Buffalo for the last 12 years, passed away on June 22, 2022. He was 103 years old.

Father Brady was born in Rochester on Sept. 16, 1918, the son of Philip and Dorothy Brady. Father Brady attended St. Mark School and the Diocesan Preparatory Seminary, both in Buffalo. Upon finishing high school in 1936, he continued his studies at St. Columban’s Preparatory Seminary in Silver Creek, and later studied theology at St. Columban’s Seminary in St. Columbans, Nebraska.

Father Brady was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 18, 1943, by Bishop John Duffy in Buffalo as a member of the Foreign Missionary Society of St. Columban.

Following his ordination, his first assignment was as a parish priest in the Diocese of Buffalo. Next, he was transferred to the society’s seminary in Milton, Massachusetts. For the next 13 years, he was assigned to promotion work, which involved encouraging vocations and raising funds for the Columban Fathers.

The society then assigned him to teach in their seminary high school in Silver Creek.

In 1960, he requested release from his oath of membership in the Foreign Missionary Society of St. Columban and began a three-year trial assignment in the Diocese of Bridgeport. During those years, he served at St. Mary Church in Greenwich, St. Mary High School and St. Joseph Hospital in Stamford. In 1963, he was incardinated in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Also in 1963, Father Brady received a master’s of science in Education from Canisius College in Buffalo.

After his incardination, Father Brady continued in his assignment as spiritual director and faculty member at St. Mary Girls High School. In 1968, he was assigned as pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Shelton where he served until his retirement in 1993.

Upon retirement, Father Brady moved to New Hampshire, where he assisted part-time at St. Joseph Church in Woodsville until 2005. At that time, due to health concerns, he moved to Yucca Valley, California and received permission to assist at local parishes in the Diocese of San Bernardino. In 2010, he returned to the Buffalo area and moved into a senior living community in Orchard Park.

Father Brady’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 10 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lord Church, Orchard Park.