Joseph (Joe) Hassett 1936-6/26/2026

Hassett, Joseph D., of Baldwin, on June 26, 2026, in his 90th year. Devoted husband of Carol (nee Polo) in their 50th year. Beloved father of Kevin (Jacqueline), Raymond (Jacqueline), Peggy (Thomas) and Joseph (Patricia). Dear grandfather of Patrick (Liz), Timothy (Amanda), Meghan (Max), Kevin, Jessica, Jennifer (Mary), R.J., Keenan, Brielle, Declan, Seija and great grandfather of Jonah, Harli, Maverick and Harlowe. The family will receive friends Monday June 29, 2026 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Cecere Fullerton Family Funeral Home 769 Merrick Rd. Baldwin NY 11510. Funeral Mass Tuesday June 30, 2026 at 9:45 AM at St. Christopher RC Church, Baldwin. Cremation Private. Please visit CecereFamilyFunerals.com

 

Dick Schebera, SMM, Jerry Pramuk, Pat Gaffney, SMM, 

Joe Hassett, Bernard "Chick" Schultz

 

Joe entered Montfort Preparatory in 1953 as a college freshman. He was invested in May 1955. Following Novitiate, he went on to complete philosophy and theology studies in Litchfield, CT. Joe was ordained a priest in St. Anthony's Church in Litchfield on Feb. 22, 1964. Ordained with him were Dick Schebera, the late Jere Pramuk and the late Bernard "Chick" Schultz. A photo of Fr. Patrick Gaffney and that ordination class was sent to me by Dick Schebera. I will forward it shortly in a separate email.

 

Following ordination, Joe was sent to Borneo, Indonesia to spread the good news of salvation and minister to Christians residing there. He served as a missionary for approximately 6-7 years. Shortly after returning to the U.S. he left the community.

 

I was a young student at Montfort Prep while Joe Hassett also attended. He was known and well-respected as a "good guy". He attended our 2015 reunion in Bay Shore but regular communication with him since then, gradually became less frequent.

 

Brian Harrington

Investiture class of 1961

 

Frank Dumont ( 9/9/1928 - 7/1/2026)

 

Frank Dumont, 97, of Hudson, Québec, died peacefully on July 1, 2026. He was the beloved husband of Rita D. (Gagnon), to whom he was married for 56 years.

 

Frank, baptized Florent, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1928, the eldest son of Florent Dumont of Montreal, Québec and Cecile Ruel of Springfield, Massachusetts. He grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and at age 17, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. During that enlistment, he received two independent appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy. He declined both, choosing instead to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Columbia College in New York City. He later earned a Master of Science in psychology from Southern Connecticut State College and a Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts.

 

He did brief stints at the Public National Bank and Trust Company of New York and at a subsidiary of Continental Oil Company, where he worked as a surveyor in western Wyoming and eastern Utah. This period was followed by a year of studies in Paris, France.

 

Frank spent a decade in the 1960s in the Montfort Missionaries community. During those years he co-established an ecumenical center in Connecticut and served as a liaison for the Archdiocese of Hartford with the Hartford Seminary Foundation and Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University. He gave talks on the topic of religious reconciliation at churches, synagogues, and civic forums throughout New England.

 

Concerned about American involvement in the Vietnam War, he co-founded a chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam in collaboration with literary critic and author Francine du Plessix Gray, his good friends Clifford Laube and Aldo Ghisalbert, and other influential members of the American journalistic, literary, and artistic world. In 1969, he joined the New Careers anti-poverty program at the University of Hartford as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiative.

 

Frank served on the staff of the University of Hartford and subsequently left for a teaching position at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick. In 1972, he was appointed to the Faculty of Education/Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University. He served as chair of the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and in 1984 he was promoted to professor. He served as director of the department’s EdD and PhD programs in counselling psychology. He taught, conducted research, and published in various venues such as encyclopedias, books and book chapters, reference works, and professional psychology journals. He was the co-editor of Six Therapists and One Client and co-editor of The Dictionary of Psychology with Ray Corsini.

 

Frank was appointed Professor Emeritus at McGill upon his retirement in 2006. He served as a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (2005-2006) and was a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Montreal. During that year he researched and drafted A History of Personality Psychology, one of his proudest writing achievements.

 

Frank had a remarkable exuberance and love of life, learning, and engaging in deep conversations with family, friends, students, and colleagues. He was always up for good banter and laughs. His greatest joy came from cherished time with his wife, children, grandchildren, his dog Paddington, and the natural world. His love for travel and adventure brought him around the world and enabled him to engage with many academic collaborators. In 1978, he and his young family spent a memorable year in the Languedoc region of France. Yet he was happiest at home in the house he built with his parents and siblings in Hudson, Québec.

 

In addition to his wife, Frank is survived by his daughters, Rachel A. Dumont of Portland, Oregon, and Caroline R. Dumont and her husband Brian of North Haven, Connecticut; his son, Marc G. Dumont and his wife Marcela of Winchester, England; and his sister, Marilyn Dumont-Driscoll and her husband Dan of Gainesville, Florida. He leaves seven grandchildren: Cecile, Risa, Mae, Seth, Beatrice, Emma, and Matilda, as well as one nephew, five nieces, eight grandnephews, and two grandnieces. Frank was predeceased by his parents and his brothers, Roger and Arthur.

 

According to Frank’s wishes, no funeral will be held. He was laid to eternal rest at Cimetière Saint-Thomas d'Aquin in Hudson, Québec.

 

In honor of Frank’s love of wildlife, memorial gifts may be sent to the Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Joseph Patchett - RIP November 23, 2025,

 

Joseph Marie Rex Patchett left this world early in the morning of November 23, 2025; on the Feast of Christ the King. After 90 years his heart finally gave out. Joseph was born on April 1st, 1935 in San Luis Obispo, California. He was the second of six children to Josephine and Hubert Patchett, sisters Jacki, Mona, Patty and Melody and brother Happy. Joseph often reminisced about his days as a boy running around barefoot, shooting hares under the dark of night, and completely deconstructing and rebuilding a Ford Model T to understand how it worked.

His curious nature sent him seeking answers early in his life. He tried a semester of college, fought fires for the National Forest Service and joined the Air Force in 1954. While enlisted, he was in a serious car crash that crushed his lower vertebrae and rendered him immobile in a half body cast for months. It was during this period of his life that he was forced to be still, alone with his thoughts, and contemplate his life. He described having transformative spiritual experiences that ultimately led him to his Catholic faith. While in Okinawa, Japan, Joseph converted to Catholicism by Fr. Rooter at the Air Force base.

Seeking a spiritual life, he spent 9 years studying in Montfort seminary. He met, fell in love and married Mary Patchett in 1969 and had six “rascals” between 1970 and 1986 -  Dara, John, Teresa, Joseph, Christopher and Mary Joy Patchett.

Joseph’s definitive characteristics were his humility and resourceful simple life values. For example, he never wanted to spend more than 100 dollars on a car, and could “fix” most problems with duct tape and a hot glue gun. Setting up shop in Pennsylvania, the young family sold planter boxes at craft shows around the northeast. One memorable calling was housing his family in a converted blue school bus and driving across the country to the west coast. The family remembers the bus breaking down in the desert. Joseph had the whole family lay their hands on the bus to pray for it to start. It made it to the next stop, showcasing his unbreakable faith and positive mindset. His ability to share his kindness, generosity of heart and turn obstacles into adventures, highlighted his young spirited attitude and magnanimous personality.

After obtaining his Masters in Lay Ministry at Seattle University in 1978, the family moved back East. In Pennsylvania, they ministered at the House of His Creation where he and Mary fostered young pregnant teenagers and supported 31 births. Joseph and his family moved many times all around the country until settling in Essex County, Massachusetts. Joseph and Mary divorced but remained friends and neighbors enjoying family together to the end.

Throughout his adulthood he deepened his spiritual life by studying the lives of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. This strengthened his devotion to mystic Catholicism and ultimately led him to become a Carmelite. He could often be found in quiet contemplation or recording readings of these mystic saints. Joseph was considered one of the leading experts on St John of the Cross. He built a large community of faith. The last decades of his life he was happily surrounded by his religious family; active in chorus, catechism and leading prayer groups. Joseph was well loved, and was eternally grateful for their generosity and caring support that he received.

He was predeceased by his parents Josephine and Hubert Patchett, and sisters Mona, Janice and Melody. Joseph is survived by his sister Patti and brother Happy and multiple west coast extended family and friends. He is also survived by his ex-wife Mary, all their children, and five grandchildren Garrett Holbrook, Noah (and Lilly) Oja, Zachariah Oja, Eldan and Willow McCarter Patchett. And if you are reading this, Joe would say: "Blessed be; survived by you too!”.

Family and friends may call from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on Saturday November 29, 2025 at Immaculate Conception Church. Joseph’s Funeral Mass will follow in the Church, with burial in the Veterans Section of Old Hill Cemetery in Newburyport. The Twomey, LeBlanc, & Conte Funeral Home 193 High St. Newburyport, MA 01950 is assisting Mr. Patchett’s family with his arrangements.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, we welcome you to contribute to our Gofundme to off-set the funeral costs. If the goal is met, any excess will be donated to the Immaculate Conception’s ministry and the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Danvers. https://gofund.me/1e2756b1e

Rev. James Manning, SMM - RIP Dec. 14, 2025

 

Litchfield, 1954 

see complete 

photo below

On Gaudete Sunday, December 14, 2025, Father James Manning, S.M.M., 95 years of age, quietly passed over to his Lord. As the reading of that day proclaimed: “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” ( Is.35)  Born November 7, 1930 in Brooklyn, NY, to James and Catherine Manning, he was baptized in St. Thomas Parish. As a young boy, he was stricken with Polio, and was a patient at St. Charles Children’s Hospital in Port Jefferson, under the watchful care of the Daughters of Wisdom. Perhaps it is impossible to know the full impact of being so ill at such an early age, but it set the stage for a life of courageously overcoming obstacles, of truly dying and rising over again by the grace of God.

In 1949, Jim entered Montfort Preparatory Seminary and College at Bay Shore. He professed his first vows as a Montfortian at the Novitiate in Hartford City, Indiana on August 15, 1952. Completing his studies in philosophy and theology in Litchfield, CT, he was ordained a priest March 1, 1958. Throughout some 67 years of priestly ministry, Fr. Jim shared his focus and gifts between teaching and parish, pastoral ministry, and also between assignments in the East and in the Midwest. He began in Port Jefferson, then went to Litchfield to teach from 1959-61. After a brief time at St. Andrew’s Parish in Fort Wayne, IN, he began a major part of his life’s work – teaching at Montfort Seminary in Bay Shore, from 1962-70. His influence is still deeply felt in the lives of his former students, some priests, many fathers and grandfathers.

He was again in parish work, at Infant Jesus, from 1971-74; then he went to Washington, DC as formator and Novice Master from 1975-77. Fr. Jim returned to the Midwest, to our parish in Noblesville, IN from 1979-84. Coming back East, he began a fruitful ministry at our Shrines, first at Our Lady of the Island in Manorville, then at Lourdes in Litchfield, from 1993-96. Fr. Jim focused on preaching, based in Bay Shore till 1999, when he moved to the Daughters of Wisdom Community in Sound Beach as chaplain to the sisters. He served them – who had cared for him as a child at St. Charles – until 2015. It was then that his own health began its slow but steady decline. He resided first in our Montfort Retirement Community at Bay Shore, and then from 2022-25 at Maria Regina Nursing Home in Brentwood.

Gregarious, with a spontaneous and lighthearted sense of humor, Fr. Jim always enlivened any community he lived in or visited! But he also had a very serious gift for studying and reading, for quiet prayer and contemplation. As a preacher, a teacher, a confrere, a friend, Fr. Jim touched the lives of countless men and women in the course of his 95 years. Trying to say Goodbye to him, one thinks of the words in the prophet Daniel:

“But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament,

and those who lead the many to justice  shall be like the stars forever.”

*****************************

Front Row: Marty Curley, John Breslin, Ted Murphy, John (Doc) McCann, Sal Costagliola;
Second Row: Andy Hoynes, Bill Bennison, Franklin Darling,  Jim Manning. Ed Dilgen, Dick Thienel;
Third Row: George Werner, Al Ryan, Joe Fazzina
Top (going up) Hugh Munro, Ray Drohan, Willie Farrell and (maybe) Bob Canuel. 

Missing: Pat Berkery