Rev. John E. Gorman

The Rev. John E. Gorman, S.D.S. (Society of the Divine Savior), 76, of Berlin, died Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, at home. Born Aug. 11, 1936, in the Bronx, N.Y., he was the son of Monica Mary and Detective John E. Gorman.

He attended Saint Angela Merici Elementary School and Mother of the Savior High School in Blackwood, N.J. Father Gorman began his undergraduate studies in clinical psychotherapy at Fordham University, with an additional year at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. On Sept. 8, he made first vows with the Society of the Divine Savior. Three years later, on Dec. 6, 1969, Father Gorman was ordained as priest by Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York City. The Archbishop had close familial ties to the Gormans and Gannons. The ordination took place in Our Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s in New York City as a treasured kindness of the Cardinal. Following ordination, Father Gorman was appointed director of Catholic Charities in Camden, N.J. Five years later, he was named as director of Adoptive Services in the same Diocese.

Four years later, Father accepted an assignment as chaplain for St. Joseph Hospital in Tucson, Ariz. There, he served for nine years.

During the next 10 years, Gorman set up a private practice in the Washington, D.C./Montgomery County area. Along with Dr. Michael Peterson, M.D., he helped with the establishment of St. Luke’s Institute, first in Holliston, then Suitland. It continues to serve the needs of the chemically addicted and other psychiatric illnesses in Takoma Park, Md.

After eight years of staff work, Father Gorman accepted the position of Director of Pastoral Services at St. Mary’s Church in New Carrollton, Md. After 13 years in this capacity, he was elected personnel director and first consulter within his society. Upon the conclusion of six years in this assignment, he took up pastoral work at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Silver Spring, Md. Following his retirement, he moved to Ocean City and then to Berlin.

He is survived by two sisters, Dorothy Kiernan of Tuckerton, N.J., and Berenice Gannon of The Villages, Fla., two nephews and eight nieces.

One of his last, and telling, pastoral deeds was to officiate at the baptism of his great-grand niece, Katherine Mae Kiernan, in October. In so many ways, he has striven to make the Savior known and loved. May he know the joys of eternal life in the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A viewing was held Tuesday, Nov. 13, at St. Luke’s Church in Ocean City, followed by a concelebrated Mass of Christian burial. Interment was in the Cemetery of the Divine Savior at St. Nazianz’s, Church in Milwaukee, Wis.