August 17, 2022

Father Merle Lavoie, longtime Northampton pastor, dies at 81

REGIONAL
Staff report

SPRINGFIELD – Father Merle Lavoie, 81, died on Aug. 16 at Mary’s Meadow in Holyoke.

The son of Alfred L. and Elizabeth A. (Jarvis) Lavoie, he was born on July 17, 1941 in Springfield and was a native of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Springfield. He graduated from the former Classical High School in Springfield and studied humanities at St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, and philosophy at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass. He completed priesthood studies at the American College (College of Louvain) in Louvain, Belgium in 1968. While in Europe, he also took courses at the University of Grenoble, France, the University of Florence, Italy and the Austrian Institute, Saltzburg, Austria. 

He was ordained on June 29, 1968 in St. Michael’s Cathedral, Springfield.

Father Lavoie served as an assistant at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Greenfield; St. Jerome Parish, Holyoke; St. Peter Parish, Great Barrington; Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish, Florence; Holy Name Parish, Springfield; Notre Dame Parish, Pittsfield; and St. John the Baptist Parish, Ludlow.

He served as assistant chaplain of the Newman Catholic Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1974-1976; for the U.S. Navy Reserves from 1976-1980; and for the U.S. Regular Navy from 1980-1981. He went to Naval Chaplain School in Newport, R.I., and from there he was assigned to First Marine Air Wing, Okinawa, Japan, where he coordinated command outreach to Korean orphanages, setting up an office in Taegu, Korea; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Indian Ocean Station Diego Garcia; and Subic Bay, The Philippines.

He was pastor of St. Peter Parish, Great Barrington from July 16, 1983 to June 9, 1994; and administrator of St. Patrick Parish, Northfield, from 1994-1995 and of St. Aloysius and St. Matthew parishes, Indian Orchard from 1995-1997.

He served as pastor of Sacred Heart and St. John Cantius parishes, Northampton from 1997 until his retirement on Jan. 4, 2010.

He is survived by his brother, Paul Lavoie Sr. and his wife, Veronica, of Salem, N.H.; nephew Paul Lavoie Jr. and his wife, Christine, of Chester, N.H.; nephew Michael Lavoie and his wife, Kerri, of Hampstead, N.H.; niece Julie Bowker and her husband, Christopher, of Scituate, Mass.; nephew Mark Lavoie and his fiancée, Christine Kettmer, of Chevy Chase, Md.; and nine great-nephews and -nieces: Charlie, Hannah, Katherine, Elizabeth, Christopher, Paul, Mary, Hugh and Bennett. His extended family includes cousins in Ludlow, Chicopee, and Hampden.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be held in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 99 King St., Northampton, on Saturday, Aug. 20 at
10 a.m. Calling hours will be held at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church on Friday, Aug. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m., followed by a vigil prayer service.