Blades of grass, a bit of soil, a math textbook, and the celebration of the Mass –all have something in common. They are outward symbols of the 40 years of work that the Reverend Thomas Gilroy, S.M., has given to the Church and to Marist School.

Father Gilroy was recently honored for 40 years as a Marist and 35 years as an ordained priest with a special Mass in the school gym. Archbishop Thomas Donnellan joined 21 priests in concelebration as the Marist student body, faculty, and some friends attended.

The Irish priest has taught math at Marist since 1961. He has also supervised all landscaping and ground maintenance on the sprawling campus for 15 years. Father James Hartnett, S.M., principal, displayed grass, soil, and a book in his homily about Father Gilroy.

In closing remarks after the Mass, Father Gilroy said, “God and his Blessed Mother have been good to me. That’s really and truly all I can say.” Still an Irish citizen, the 59-year-old Marist led the singing of “America the Beautiful” after remarking, “For me, America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

After the morning Mass, the student body was dismissed for the day and 30 friends joined Father Gilroy for a special luncheon.

Father Gilroy, and avid golfer and gardener with an unmistakable Irish brogue, was born in Enniskillen, Ireland, April 19, 1917. Tom was the youngest of Denis and Mary Alice Gilroy’s 14 children.

After primary school he attended St. Mary’s College high school in Dundalk. He entered the Marist novitiate at Mount St. Mary’s in Dublin, Sep. 1935, and professed his vows Sept. 8, 1936. Fr. Gilroy was ordained a Marist Father in Paignton, South Devonshire, England, Sep. 21, 1941.

A graduate of the National University of Ireland (1945), Fr. Gilroy first taught at St. Mary’s College, Blackburn, England. He spent 12 years there. He came to the United States in 1958 as a math and physics teacher at St. Mary’s Manor, Penndel, Pa., a Marist seminary.

He joined the faculty at Marist School in 1961. Since then he has served as head of the math department and as vice-superior of the Marist Fathers community. He earned his master’s degree in math education from Emory University in 1967.