Father John Harrison, C.Ss.R. - Obituary

John Barron ("Harry") Harrison, C.Ss.R., a member of the St. Mary's, Annapolis, MD, community died at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, in Towson, MD, on Monday, March 31, 2025. He was 84 years old. He was born to Marie Louise (Guillon) and Charles Loring Harrison on January 3, 1941. He attended St. Mary’s College Minor Seminary in North East, PA, and made his novitiate at St. Mary’s College, Ilchester, MD, where he professed first vows on August 2, 1962. He was ordained to the priesthood at Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary, Esopus, NY, on June 18, 1967.

Father Harrison’s missionary career began in the former Vice-Province of Campo Grande, Brazil. His first assignment was to San Alfonso Parish in Bela Vista, Mato Grosso in Brazil, from 1969-1971. He would go on to spend 16 years in Brazil, serving most of that time in seminary formation as a teacher at the high school Seminário do Santíssimo Redentor in Ponta Grossa. Fr. Joaquim Parrón of the Curitiba province, a former student of his, remembers Fr. John as a happy and easy-going person. He said that he was close to the people that he served and to the seminarians who would seek him out for counsel and to go to confession.

Fr. John returned to the Baltimore Province in 1985. At that time, the provincial, Rev. Edward Gilbert wrote "Father Harrison has been an excellent priest in our mission in Brazil." Upon his return to the states, Fr. John served as pastor and superior of the local communities of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Ellicott City, MD, St. Joseph's, Odenton, MD, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Seaford, DE, and associate pastor at St. Mary's Parish in Annapolis, MD. He also served as the superior of the St. John Neumann Residence for senior Redemptorists in Timonium from 2015-2023. His ministry in parishes in the Baltimore Province was marked by the same dedication and closeness to the people as in Brazil. When he completed his ministry as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Seaford, DE, Bishop Michael Saltarelli wrote to Fr. John thanking him for his "magnificent leadership in Seaford these past six years. There is no doubt in my mind that the people of God under your pastoring have been blessed–in fact the whole diocese has been blessed as you walked among us."

Fr. John was quite ill for the past months of his life but even while he was under care of the staff at St. John Neumann Residence, he carried on a ministry like that of his early days in the seminary in Brazil. Fr. Ken Gaddy, the superior of the St. John Neumann Residence said that staff would often speak with Fr. John and found in him a supportive and encouraging listener. In his short time at St. Mary's in Annapolis from 2023-2024, Fr. Pat Woods, the superior, found Fr. John a prayerful man, always in the chapel ahead of the others. Surely this was a source of his goodness and kindness. Another word used to describe Fr. John was that he was a gentle man. Yes, he was, and a gentleman. May he be welcomed into eternal life and blessed for his many years of faithful consecrated life and priestly ministry. May he rest in peace.

All services for Father John Harrison will take place at Saint Mary's Church, 109 Duke of Gloucester St, in Annapolis, Maryland. 

The schedule of services is as follows:

Friday, April 4, 2025

Visitation: 6:30 PM

Wake Service: 7:30 PM

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Funeral Mass:10:00 AM

Burial to Follow: Redemptorist Cemetery at Saint Mary's

"Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon him, Amen."