September 5, 2018

OBITUARY: Father Paul Robinson, Easthampton resident

REGIONAL

DARIEN, Ill. – Carmelite Father Paul Robinson, of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, Order of Carmelites, died at the age of 77 on Sept. 2.

Father Robinson was born to William Leo Robinson and Cornelia Frances (Tarasiewicz) Robinson on May 27, 1941, in Boston.          

He began pre-novitiate at Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in 1959; entered the Carmelite Novitiate in New Baltimore, Pennsylvania, in 1961; and professed simple vows to the Carmelites in the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary on Aug. 29, 1962, taking the religious name of Scott.

After receiving his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from St. Bonaventure University, Olean, New York, in 1965, he went on to earn a degree in theology from Whitefriars, Washington, D.C., in 1968. He made his solemn profession with the Carmelites on Jan. 30, 1967 and was ordained a priest on May 30, 1967.

Continuing his education, he received a degree in library science from Catholic University of America; a degree in French from Middlebury College; a degree in Spanish from San Joaquin Delta College; and a degree in canon law from Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas in Rome, Italy, on June 14, 1989.

He began his ministerial service in 1968 as a faculty member at DeSales High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and continued to serve in education at Mount Camel Prep Seminary in Niagara Falls, Ontario, from 1970 to 1974 and Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona, from 1974 to 1975.  In 1976, he went to the St. Thérèse Chapel, “The Chapel in the Mall,” where he served as staff for two years before returning to education, serving as a teacher at Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet, Illinois, from 1978 to 1979.

From 1979 to 1987 he served as associate pastor consecutively at St. Gertrude Parish in Stockton, California, St. Ann Catholic Church in Lodi, California, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Houston, Texas. From 1986 to 1987 he also served as marriage tribunal advocate for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.

In his final years of ministerial service, he served as provincial representative on the International Carmelite Committee, staff at the Carmelite Institute, and canonist for both the PCM Province and the Fall River Diocese Tribunal Office.

In 2014, he retired and moved back to his hometown of Easthampton, Massachusetts. He was admitted to Cooley Dickenson Hospital on Aug. 22, 2018, where he remained until his death.

He is survived by his sister, Mary Robinson, and his Carmelite brothers.

Visitation for Father Robinson will be held on Friday, Sept. 7 at Our Lady of the Valley Church, 33 Adams St., Easthampton, MA 01027, from 9-10:30 a.m., followed by the funeral Mass. Following the Mass, Father Robinson will be buried in his family plot in St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Mayher Street, Easthampton.