May 26, 2020
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With great sadness, we announce that our brother, Paulist Fr. Richard Colgan, has entered eternal life.
Fr. Rich died at 11:45 p.m. on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., of complications from COVID-19.
He was the first Paulist Father to die as a result of the coronavirus.
Fr. Rich, 68, had served as director of novices at our seminary since 2011.
He had been a part of the Paulist community for nearly 46 years and a priest for 41 years.
He was born on February 19, 1952, a son of the late Robert Colgan and Marguerite LaBombard Colgan.
He grew up on a dairy farm in Ellenburg Depot, NY.
He entered the Paulist novitiate on September 12, 1974, made his first promise to the Paulist community on August 16, 1975, and his final promise on September 8, 1978,
He was ordained a deacon on October 15, 1978, and ordained a priest on May 19, 1979.
Fr. Rich began his priesthood as a Catholic campus minister at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Clemson, SC (1979 to 1983) and McGill University in Montreal, Canada (1983 to 1984).
He then moved to New Jersey where he served as associate novice master at the Paulist novitiate in Oak Ridge, NJ, while also assisting at Paulist Press (1984 to 1987).
From 1987 to 1990, he was associate pastor at our mother church, the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City. During these years, he was a chaplain at Roosevelt Hospital and ministered with patients living with HIV / AIDS.
In 1991, Fr. Rich moved to Toronto, Canada. In 1992 and 1993, he served there at St. Peter’s Church and Toronto’s Catholic Information Center.
From 1993 to 1997, he returned to campus ministry, serving at the Newman Center in Minneapolis, MN.
His next assignment was the Paulist Center in Boston from 1997 to 2003.
In 2003, Fr. Rich moved to St. Philip Neri Church in Portland OR, where he served as associate pastor and then pastor from 2004 to 2008. In that role, he worked with the parish’s young adults to start an environmental festival called the Muddy Boot festival.
In Autumn 2008, he returned to Toronto where he became pastor of St. Peter’s Church. He served in that role until becoming our director of novices in 2011.
In his assignments, Fr. Rich sought to engage in young adult ministry; ministry with Spanish-speaking Catholics; ministry with the LGBT community; and outreach to separated and divorced Catholics.
In addition to his brother Paulist Fathers, Fr. Rich is survived by his mother, Marguerite; his sister, Barbara Roberts and her husband, Ricky; his sister, Audry Bashaw and her husband, Paul; his brother, Mark Colgan, and Mark’s wife, Rev. Marion Moore-Colgan; and his brother, Pastor Paul Colgan and his Paul’s wife, Jody.
He also is survived by his nieces and nephews: Michelle Hamel, Jennifer Plumadore, Daniel Colgan, Robbie Bashaw, Elizabeth Colgan, Rebecca Colgan and Sarah Colgan.
We pray that Fr. Rich and all those who have died from COVID-19 are in God’s warm embrace.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
Memories and tributes to Fr. Rich can be submitted via this Google Drive.
View photos from Fr. Rich’s life and ministry at this Pinterest board.
In this interview, Fr. Rich reflected on his ministry and call to the priesthood:
You may also listen to this in-depth audio interview with Fr. Rich at Storycorps.