August 1

FR. PATRICK HICKEY was born in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia on April 20, 1930. He died suddenly in the Epworth Hospital, Melbourne on August 1, 2013. Educated in the Sisters of Mercy School, Subiaco, St. Patrick’s Boys’ School, and the Christian Brothers College, Perth, he spent four years in the Commonwealth Bank before entering the Columban seminaries in Wahroonga and Essendon, both in Australia. Ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Perth, on July 27, 1957 he was assigned to Mindanao. He served in Aurora, Pagadian, and Tambulig before founding a new parish in Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur in 1966. He was regional bursar in Essendon from 1983 to 1988 followed by years in parish ministry, mainly in South Australia. After a stroke in 2002 Father Pat retired to St. Columban’s, Essendon. His death, due to a heart attack, took the Columban community by surprise. He is buried in the Columban section of the Carlton General Cemetery, Australia.

August 2

FR. JOSEPH GALLAGHER was born in Ballinacurra, Killaser, Swinford, County Mayo on June 30,  1925. After St. Joseph’s NS, Killaser, and St. Nathy’s College, Ballaghaderreen in Ireland he entered Dalgan seminary in 1941 and was ordained on December 21, 1947. Appointed to the Diocese of Lingayen, Pangasinan in the Philippines he was parish priest of Labrador where he founded St. Columban’s High School in 1954.  In 1968 he was chosen as Pro-Director for Luzon, and a year later, Director of the Region of the Philippines, remaining in that arduous post, treating 250 post-Vatican II Columbans with good humour and understanding, until March 1976.  He was glad to return to Pangasinan where he worked in several parishes, bringing the people the word of God and the sacraments, building and repairing churches and schools, and helping the poor. In 2007 he retired to the Dalgan Nursing Home, where he died on August 2, 2013. He is buried in Dalgan Park.

August 3

FR. GORDON JACKSON was born near Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia in 1914. He died on August 3, 2006 while staying with friends in the Blue Mountains, N.S.W. Having completed his secondary education with the Marist Brothers in Randwick, Sydney, he began his studies for priesthood in 1933 at St. Columban’s, Essendon and completed them at Dalgan seminary where he was ordained in 1939. Assigned to the Philippines in 1940, he was interned by the Japanese Military Forces and repatriated to Australia. At war’s end, Father Gordon returned to the Philippines but ill health forced him home again in 1950. Always devoted to scholarship, he received a doctorate in Semitic Studies from Sydney University in 1963.  Father Gordon is buried at Northern Suburbs Cemetery, Sydney, Australia.

August 9

FR. MALACHY TONER was born at Magherafelt, County Derry, Ireland in 1916. He died on August 9, 2008 at Culcrum, Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland. Having completed his studies at St. Patrick’s College, Armagh in Ireland, Father Malachy began his studies at Dalgan seminary in 1933 for Columban priesthood and was ordained in 1939. He was engaged in mission-education work in Ireland until 1946 when he was assigned to China. He worked in the Diocese of Nancheng until, due to Communist advances, he was assigned to the Philippines. There he worked in Student Catholic Action (SCA) becoming its Director in 1951. He was a recognised defender of Catholic student rights. Assigned to Mindanao in 1954, he concentrated on pastoral activities there until 1984 when he was assigned to Ireland. There he acted as chaplain to the Alexian Brothers at Warrenpoint, and later to the Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, Rostrevor, County Down. After retiring to Dalgan Park in 2004, he later decided to move closer to his family in Ballymena, where he died. He is buried with his own people in Magherafelt, Ireland.

Fr. Malachy Toner at Mindanao State University in the mid 1960’s

 August 11

FR. PAUL COONEY, born in 1925 at Stradone, County Cavan, Ireland, died in Makati Medical Center, Manila on August 11, 2003. Having completed his secondary studies at St. Patrick’s, Cavan, Father Paul went to Dalgan seminary where he was ordained in 1951. He was one of four religious in his family. Assigned to the Philippines, he worked in Mindanao until his appointment as Vice-Director in 1981 and Director in 1985.  As pastor and superior, Father Paul was blessed with commonsense, honesty and openness to the ideas of others. He died after prolonged suffering during which time he displayed great faith. He is buried at the grounds of Loyola Memorial Chapels & Crematorium, Parañaque, Metro Manila.

Fathers Paul Cooney & Tim Ruben with members of the Legion of Mary