Bishop Myron J. Cotta will preside at a memorial Mass for Father Thomas Dermody, a retired priest of the diocese, on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. in St. John the Baptist Church, located at 435 Chestnut St. in Chico. Father Dermody, who served as a priest of the diocese for 40 years, died on Dec 1. He was 79. He retired from active ministry on Dec. 18, 2002.
A native of Crobally, Mullinavat, County Kilkenny, Ireland, he completed studies for the priesthood at St. Kieran’s College in Kilkenny, Ireland. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1962.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he was associate pastor of All Hallows, St. Peter and St. Anne parishes in Sacramento, St. Monica Parish in Willows and St. Patrick Parish in Placerville.
He was pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Chico from 1976 to 1989 and parochial administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish in Downieville from 1990 to 1992.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 9 by Rev. William Kinane at 11 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 102 S. Imperial Ave. in Brawley.