November 5, 2015

UPDATED: Father Earl Hebert, longtime pastor in Ware and Pittsfield, dies at 92

 

REGIONAL

Staff report

Funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Nov. 9 at  Christ the King Church in Ludlow 

ENFIELD, Conn.: Father Earl A.V. Hebert, 92, a Springfield diocesan priest, died on Nov. 2 at the Little Sisters of the Poor St. Joseph Residence, here. He had been a longtime resident of Pine Valley Plantation in Belchertown.

A native of Holyoke, he was born on June 26, 1923. He attended the former Perpetual Help Elementary School and Morgan Junior High School in Holyoke and graduated from Holyoke High School. He studied classics at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and Sacred Heart Seminary in Quebec, Canada; and philosophy and theology at the Grand Seminary in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Springfield Bishop Christopher J. Weldon on Dec. 20, 1952 at the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Holyoke.

He served as a curate at the former Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Chicopee, 1953-54; the former Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs Parish, Adams, 1954-65; the former Notre Dame Parish, Pittsfield, 1965-67; the former St. Aloysius Parish, Indian Orchard, 1967-70; the former Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Ware, 1970-71; and the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Holyoke, 1971-74.

He was appointed administrator of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Ware, in 1974 and then pastor of that parish in 1975, serving there until 1990. He then was appointed pastor of the former Notre Dame Parish in Pittsfield in 1990 and served there until his retirement on June 26, 2003.  

During his retirement, Father Hebert assisted at local parishes in Ludlow, Palmer, Belchertown and Ware. 

He was predeceased by his sister and brother-in-law, Una and Burnett Quincy Haynes. He leaves his cousin, Jeannine Remillard of Feeding Hills; several cousins in Canada; his brother priests; and many friends. 

He will lie in state on monday, Nov. 9, from 10-11 a.m. at Christ the King Church, 41 Warsaw Ave., Ludlow. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. and will be celebrated by Springfield Bishop Emeritus Timothy A. McDonnell. Burial will follow at Notre Dame Cemetery, 63 Lyman St., South Hadley.

Memorial donations may be made to Christ the King Church, 41 Warsaw Ave., Ludlow, MA 01056.