1952 – 2020 (April 20)
Thomas Joseph Meehan was born on September 7, 1952, in Philadelphia, PA, the son of Thomas J. Meehan and Helen A. Johnson. He was one of five sons and four daughters. Thom was baptized on September 28, 1952 at Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Philadelphia, PA. He attended Most Blessed Sacrament Parish School from 1958 to 1965, Saint Andrew Parish School, Drexel Hill, PA, from 1965 to 1966, and Monsignor Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, from which he graduated in 1970. Thom matriculated at Villanova University where he obtained a BA in Education in 1974. He entered the Order as a novice that August, and after a year at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, NY, he professed simple vows on August 23, 1975. He then went to Augustinian College in Washington, DC, where he attended the Washington Theological Union for theological studies and received the M.Div. degree. He was assigned to Saint LaurenceO’Toole Parish, Lawrence, MA, for pastoral ministry from 1978 to 1979 and professed solemn vows on December 12, 1979. After ordination to the diaconate, he served at Saint Mary Parish, Lawrence, MA. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1980 at Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish, Bryn Mawr, PA, by Bishop John McNabb, O.S.A., of the Diocese of Chulucanas, Peru.
Father Thom was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island, NY, as parochial vicar in 1980. In 1982 he was transferred to Austin Preparatory School, Reading, MA, where he served as school chaplain and teacher until 1987. He then served as parochial vicar at Saint Augustine Parish, Andover, MA, until 1992 when he was appointed to Saint Augustine Parish, Troy, NY, as parochial vicar for one year and pastor, from 1993 to 1998. In that latter year he was appointed pastor of Saint John Neumann Parish, Charlotte, NC. Father Thom was assigned to Saint Augustine Friary, Villanova, PA in January 2007 and in 2009, he was transferred to Saint Augustine Friary, Malvern, PA, where he became a member of the Malvern Prep Theology faculty. He was often called the students’ favorite teacher, as he made it a point to know every student well and was present at many of their extracurricular activities. Even after suffering a stroke in January 2018, he continued his teaching ministry which he only gave up reluctantly at the completion of the 2018 term. His mother, to whom he was very attentive, passed away in June of that year at the age of ninety.
Father Thom was assigned to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery in July 2018. He was hospitalized in the Winter of 2020 where he underwent the amputation of his leg. He passed away on April 20, 2020 at Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care of Phoenixville Hospital.
