Fr. O’Grady had deep love, lilting Irish tenor voice

Father Peter O’Grady, the former pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Jefferson who died March 1, was a “larger than life priest” who left England and his Irish family and found a home in New Orleans, dedicating his life to serving his parishioners, his brother said at his funeral Mass March 9 at St. Agnes.

Dr. Michael Grady – who dropped the “O” in the family name – said Father O’Grady, who died at East Jefferson Hospital at age 74, “just loved people.”

“He was very much a man of the people,” Grady said. “He loved New Orleans and the people. The place just suited him. Mardi Gras spoke to him.”

Father O’Grady grew up in England as the son of Irish parents. He was ordained in 1963 in Manchester, England, and served there until 1967, when he came to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and was assigned as an associate at St. Agnes Parish under Msgr. Arthur Brue.

When his father became ill, Father O’Grady returned to England for four years, but he always wanted to return to New Orleans, Grady said, and did so in 1974. He became parochial vicar at St. Matthew the Apostle Church in River Ridge.

Mardi Gras was ‘in his blood’
“He loved New Orleans and he couldn’t get it out of his blood,” Grady said. “This was just the right place for him to be.”

He was appointed administrator of St. Agnes in 1982 and named pastor in 1984, serving there until declining health forced his retirement in 2007.

“His health was very poor,” Grady said. “He suffered, but he suffered in silence and carried the cross of his illness with great fortitude. In the end, his heart just gave out and stopped. He died very peacefully.”

Parishioners recalled the care with which Father O’Grady renovated St. Agnes Church. With his Irish tenor voice, he used to intone the eucharistic prayer at Sunday Masses.

“He had a gorgeous voice,” said Teva Ostarly, a member of the St. Agnes Choir. “He would sing the whole Mass of Creation. You felt like the angels were with you.”

“In my opinion, no priest in the archdiocese could do a better celebration of the Mass,” said parishioner Anthony Stoltz. “It was fitting that we had a lot of music at his funeral Mass because that was his forte. He also took special pride in preparing the children for First Communion. He really got those children to respond to him.”

As an enthusiastic convert to Mardi Gras, Father O’Grady rode regularly in the Krewe of Endymion, Grady said, and his rectory was “always full of doubloons and beads.” On Grady’s first Mardi Gras in 1989, it was so cold that it snowed, but Father O’Grady made sure to teach his then 3-year-old niece, Nan, how to beg for beads.

Taught niece N.O. mantra

“He had the kids on his back for hours, practicing ‘Throw me something, Mister!’” Grady recalled. “When Nan went back home, they thought she was really strange because she used to walk down the street and jump into the air and shout, ‘Throw me something, Mister!’ This was a wonderful place to be, and he had a great life. He lived two lives in one lifetime.”

In his homily, Father Patrick Williams, executive director of the Department of Clergy, said he would check in with Father O’Grady during his retirement.

“I would say, ‘Peter, how are you doing?’ and he would say, ‘Patrick, I was fine until you called,’” Father Williams said. “I assured him I wasn’t going to cause him too much trouble, and we would laugh about it.”

Father Williams said in gathering around the altar where Father O’Grady celebrated so many Masses, “we remember and celebrate this Eucharist. In doing so, our celebration is a glimpse of the heavenly banquet. Our prayer is that for Father Peter and for those he loved, it is no longer a glimpse but the fullness of life.”

Cared for in his illness

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, the principal celebrant, thanked the parishioners of St. Agnes, especially Mary Tapley, who cared for Father O’Grady during his illness.

“Most especially we give thanks for the almost 50 years of priestly ministry and the many ways in which he was good to people,” the archbishop said. “We express our faith in the resurrection. As we see someone we have loved who has led God’s flock, we , too, are called to life, death and resurrection and we continue this journey.”

Father O’Grady’s body was cremated and flown to Ireland, where it was interred in a family burial plot at Cloonshanville, the ruins of an 11th century monastery.

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].