1926 – 2008 (September 15)
Pascal Anthony De Cicco was born on April 23, 1926, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph De Cicco and Carmela Mizii, and was baptized at Saint Rita of Cascia Church, on May 23, 1926. He attended Saint Rita Parish School, from 1931 to 1940, and Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, from 1940 to 1944. He was received into the novitiate on September 9, 1944, spent a year as a novice at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, N.Y., and professed first vows on September 10, 1945. He then attended Villanova College, Villanova, Pa., professed solemn vows on September 10, 1948, and received his A.B. degree in 1949. He then began theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, DC, and was ordained to the priesthood at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, by Bishop John McNamara, on June 9, 1952.
Father De Cicco briefly served at Saint Denis Parish, Havertown, Pa., and then was assigned to Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Jacksonville, Florida, from 1953 to 1956. He served in parochial ministry in the New York City area, from 1956 to 1978, at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Jamaica, Long Island, N.Y., from 1956 to 1968, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island, N.Y., 1968 and 1969, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Bronx, N.Y., from 1969 to 1978. From 1978 to 2003, he served in parochial ministry in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, at Saint Denis Parish, Havertown, Pa., 1978 to 1982, at Saint Rita of Cascia Parish, Philadelphia, Pa., 1982 to 1984, and at Saint Augustine Parish, Philadelphia, Pa., 1984 to 2003.
After fifty years of service in the Province's parochial ministry, at the age of 77, with failing health, Father De Cicco was assigned to Saint Thomas Monastery, Villanova.
He wrote a letter in 1982 to the Prior Provincial, in which he listed the qualities he thought were essential for a good friar: one who believes in and practices community prayer, one who enjoys the companionship of his fellow Augustinians; one who can work harmoniously with his brothers. Father Pat De Cicco embodied these qualities and lived them throughout his life. He passed over to the Lord on Monday, September 15, 2008.
