OBITUARY

Maryknoll Father Wilcox served 6 years on Big Island

Maryknoll Father C. Thomas Wilcox, of St. Louis, Mo., who served on the Big Island from 1954 to 1960, died on June 18, at St. Teresa’s Residence in Ossining, N.Y. He was 85 and a Maryknoll priest for 59 years.

Born on Nov. 29, 1924 in St. Louis, Father Wilcox was ordained on June 9, 1951. After teaching Latin and serving as the prefect of discipline at Maryknoll Junior Seminary in Clarks Summit, Penn., he was assigned in 1954 to Hawaii.

He was an associate pastor at St. Benedict Parish, Honaunau, and at St. Joseph Parish, Hilo. While in Hawaii, he also served as athletic director at St. Joseph School in Hilo.

In 1960, he moved to Maryknoll College at Glen Ellyn, Ill., where for eight years he served as professor of Latin, head prefect, unit prefect, athletic director, vice rector, dean of students, and soccer coach.

In 1968 Father Wilcox was named rector of Maryknoll Seminary in Hingham, Mass., and in 1974, center coordinator of Maryknoll Headquarters in Ossining. From 1979 to 1985 Wilcox served as director of St. Teresa’s Residence.

From 1985 to 2001 he taught English and coached student soccer players at Chan Sui Ki College in China. Returning to the U.S. in 2001, he took up residence at St. Teresa’s. He was assigned to the retirement community in 2002.

Father Wilcox’s funeral was June 23 at Maryknoll Center, Ossining. He is buried in Maryknoll Cemetery.

Father Wilcox is survived by his brother, William Wilcox, of Clayton Mo., and his sister, Sister Rosemary Wilcox, of Denver, Colo.