Priest’s faith, loyalty, caring, intelligence and wit recalled
Msgr. Francis Lacey, retired pastor of St. Hilary Parish in Tiburon, died July 5 at Nazareth House in San Rafael. He was 81 years old and a priest for 57 years. Msgr. Lacey was appointed honorary prelate with title of monsignor by Pope Paul VI in 1976.
Father James Tarantino, pastor of St. Hilary Parish, followed Msgr. Lacey as pastor of the Tiburon congregation in 1997. Msgr. Lacey continued in residence at St. Hilary’s until his move to San Rafael in March of 2007. “After 10 years of rooming with him, I should know something about Msgr. Lacey,” Father Tarantino told Catholic San Francisco with a laugh.
“Msgr. Lacey was very sure and clear in his words,” Father Tarantino said. “He had a very dry and incredible sense of humor which he maintained even in illness. Msgr. Lacey was a very gentle and smart man. People remember and continue to remark about his well-prepared homilies. He had a very well thought out perspective on Scripture. He served his many years as a priest with great largesse for the Archdiocese and the Church. He held many different posts because of his many gifts which came forward even in difficult times.”
Father Tarantino is also a former president of Marin Catholic High School where Msgr. Lacey served for 23 years including five years as principal from 1971 – 76. “Msgr. Lacey was a legend at Marin Catholic,” Father Tarantino said, “and much remembered even into my time there.”
Salt Lake City Bishop John Wester was secretary to Archbishop John R. Quinn during Msgr. Lacey’s term as Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese – 1984 - 90. “We had adjoining offices,” Bishop Wester said from Texas where he was attending meetings. “Frank did a great job. He loved people, was extremely loyal and a great friend. He served Archbishop Quinn wonderfully. He loved being a priest and was an excellent one. Msgr. Lacey was a great peacemaker, a great reconciler.”
Deacon Jerry Friedman of St. Isabella Parish, where Msgr. Lacey served as pastor from 1976 –84, was homilist at Msgr. Lacey’s funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral July 9. Archbishop George H. Niederauer presided.
“Msgr. Lacey was an inspiring man,” Deacon Friedman said. Five years ago Msgr. Lacey asked him to preach at his funeral Mass. “I was touched and overwhelmed by that,” he said. “I’ve always been in awe of him. I have so much respect and regard and love for him as a man and a priest.”
Deacon Friedman, ordained in 1979, remembered Msgr. Lacey for his support of the permanent diaconate. “He supported me in my formation and saw many possibilities for the diaconate,” Deacon Friedman said. “He was such a great man. His spirituality was right where it had to be. He was fantastic.”
Father Joseph O’Connell, retired pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Mill Valley is a classmate of Msgr. Lacey. “He was a wonderful priest and a good friend,” Father O’Connell said. “He had one of the most facile minds I have ever known and was very, very bright. He was quite a man.”
Father Patrick Keane, retired pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Lagunitas, was ordained with Msgr. Lacey in 1951. “The whole class was pretty close,” Father Keane said from Serra Clergy House in San Mateo where he resides. “Frank was a tremendous man. He had it all – intelligence, wit – and was a very good priest. He understood what priesthood is. He knew his success was not his own but what God did through him. He did a great amount of good in all his assignments, which covered the whole gamut of priestly service. He was a most wonderful friend.” Father Kirby Hanson followed Msgr. Lacey as pastor of St. Isabella Parish in San Rafael when Msgr. Lacey became Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese. “Frank took my place and I took his,” said Father Hanson, who had served in a similar administrative role as chancellor. “Frank was a good fellow and a good priest. He’ll be missed and we’ll pray for him.” Father Hanson is retired pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in San Francisco’s Richmond District.
Among Msgr. Lacey’s larger assignments as Moderator of the Curia was overseeing Pope John Paul II’s visit to San Francisco in September 1987. Deacon Bill Mitchell, now retired, served as a director of communications for the Archdiocese at that time and worked closely with Msgr. Lacey on the project. Deacon Mitchell’s work was primarily with the media.
“Frank was a very likeable guy and a very easy person to work for and with,” said Deacon Mitchell, who assisted at the funeral Mass. Planning for the papal visit took two years, Deacon Mitchell recalled. “It was all pretty intense. There were a lot of things happening at the same time and a lot of arrangements to make. Through it all, Frank kept his cool. He had a great personality. He was just a nice guy, a very nice guy.”
Sacred Heart Sister Mary B. Flaherty served as chancellor for the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1984 – 96. Her appointment came from a new code of canon law that allowed for non-clergy to hold the post. Msgr. Lacey interviewed Sister Flaherty for the job. She assisted Msgr. Lacey on the 1987 papal visit.
“I loved Frank,” Sister Flaherty said from Washington State where she works at her congregation’s Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. “He was the most wonderful person. He was sharp, astute and loyal and put things in perspective so perfectly. Frank was a prince of a man distinguished by his selflessness and service.”
Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey, the daughter of Msgr. Lacey’s late brother Raymond and his wife, Ila, proclaimed the first reading at the funeral Mass.
“Uncle Frank was a great role model – a prayerful pastor who was also a private pilot, an avid skier, a world traveler and a good photographer,” Sister Lacey told Catholic San Francisco. “I loved his dry wit and quick sense of humor. On the day he died, the Church on earth lost a faithful priest, but the saints in heaven gained a great storyteller!”
Msgr. Lacey was the first Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, “an assignment in which he assisted the Archbishop as head administrator,” according to a memo from Auxiliary Bishop William Justice, announcing the priest’s death. “He undertook his new responsibilities with distinction.”
Bishop Justice said the papal visit in 1987 rested largely in Msgr. Lacey’s hands and “involved the coordination of dozens of archdiocesan committees and innumerable calls and visits with representatives of other dioceses.” In June 1989, acknowledging Msgr. Lacey’s important contribution to the trip, Pope John Paul II conferred upon Msgr. Lacey the title of Protonotary Apostolic, a high prelate of honor.
Msgr. Lacey is survived by family including Ila Lacey, the wife of his late brother Raymond, and nieces and nephews including Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey, Michael Lacey, Robert Lacey, Donald Lacey, and Raymond Lacey, Jr. Remembrances may be sent to Sister Marilyn Lacey, RSM, c/o Ila Lacey, 1200 Eureka Ct., Los Altos 94024.
Interment was at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
(By Tom Burke)
