D E A C O N S
th A N N I V E R S A R Y
DEACON JOSEPH A. CARD
Deacon Joseph A. Card was born in 1926 in Millbrook, N.Y., where he attended elementary and high school. He graduated from high school in the midst of World War II and immediately entered the U.S. Navy. He served for 32 months before attending LaSalle University, Philadelphia, through the G.I. Bill. He studied languages and received a bachelor’s degree in French literature. Deacon Card was ordained May 11, 1991, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and has served in Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Maple Shade. As a deacon, he has been involved in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and interreligious activities, among other ministries. While he is presently retired, he continued to assist with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as with Bible study classes. Deacon Card spent a time working for a steamship company, before taking a job as a manager of computer operations for an insurance company. He is now retired. Deacon Card lives in Maple Shade. He has five children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. His wife, Gilda, is deceased.
DEACON JEFFERY F. PIERFY
DEACON KYRAN JERRY PURCELL
Deacon Kyran Jerry Purcell was born in Orange in 1940 to parents Kyran and Angela. His sister, Mary, is deceased. He has one brother, Joseph. Deacon Purcell attended Sacred Heart School, Newark; Archbishop Walsh High School, Irvington, and Seton Hall University, South Orange, before serving in the U. S. Army and the National Guard from 1961 to 1991. Deacon Purcell was ordained May 11, 1991, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and was assigned to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Whiting. His ministry there has included assisting in parish catechesis programming, and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process. He has also trained and supervised extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. “As a deacon, I find my satisfaction is working with the parish youth ministry and spending quality time with the sick and homebound,” Deacon Purcell reflected. His ministry to the Whiting community has included weekly visits to the homebound, as well as leading weekly Communion services in two nursing home communities. Since 1990, Deacon Purcell has served as an investigator for the Ocean County Election Board. Deacon Purcell’s main hobby is gardening, though he also enjoys reading and researching American history and baseball. He has conducted genealogy research on his family dating back to 1800, and has traveled to 13 different countries.
DEACON DENNIS E. SLAVIN
Deacon Jeffery F. Pierfy of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton, was born in Easton, Pa., in 1943 to parents Jeffrey and Melinda. He has a sister, June. He attended Alpha Public School and Phillipsburg High School and Rider University, Lawrenceville, where he earned a bachelor of arts in journalism Following his graduation, Deacon Pierfy served as an English teacher, varsity baseball coach and junior varsity basketball coach in Phillipsburg Catholic High School before taking a job as director of public relations and advertising for a firm in Avenel. He then returned to his alma mater, Rider University, to serve as assistant vice president for development from 1968 to 1991. Deacon Pierfy was ordained May 11, 1991, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and was assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish. His ministry has revolved, in large part, around ministering to the sick. He established a pastoral care program in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton, serving as its director for 11 years. He also spent five years as executive director of the hospital’s foundation. The hospital chapel is named in his honor. A certified chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, Deacon Pierfy’s ministry also included coordinating the bereavement ministry and ministry to the sick in his home parish. Presently, he continued to volunteer one day a week as chaplain at St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton. Other achievements include receiving a Vocational Service Award from the Rotary Club of Hamilton Township; his being named Hamilton Township Jaycee Citizen of the Year and earning two Distinguished Alumnus Awards from Rider University in 1999 and 2004
Deacon Dennis E. Slavin of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton, was born in Trenton in 1947 to parents Edward and Anne. He attended Our Lady of Sorrows School, Mercerville, and St. Charles College High School, Catonsville, Md. He and his wife, Joan, reside in Bordentown. Their son, James D. Slavin, is deceased. Deacon Slavin received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Bonaventure University, N.Y. He later took courses at LaSalle University, Philadelphia, and then earned a master’s degree in theology from Georgian Court University, Lakewood. His graduate thesis was recognzied as having been “completed with distinction” and “excellence in research.” Deacon Slavin’s professional career included serving as an auditor for the state from 1969 to 1997; as benefits administrator for the Diocese of Trenton, business manager for Anchor House, a Trenton-based ministry that provides assistance to run-away and at-risk youth, and accountant for the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. As a parishioner and then as an ordained deacon, most of his ministries have centered on the Sacrament of Marriage. In the early 1980s, he and his wife served on their parish Pre-Cana team and the diocesan Engaged Encounter retreat, To Trust Again Pre-Cana and first Retrouvaille retreat teams. He was ordained a deacon May 11, 1991, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and was assigned to the diocesan Department of Youth, Marriage and Family Life, where his ministry included assisting in the development of a parish Pre-Cana Team training curriculum, conduct of team training and of diocesan-level Pre-Cana days for engaged couples and training of FOCCUS facilitators. Deacon Slavin is a certified FOCCUS facilitator and a certified FOCCUS facilitator trainer. Concurrent with his years working in the Office of Youth, Marriage and Family Life, he served as an annulment advocate for the Office of Canonical Services and Tribunal, and a faculty member for the Ministry of Diaconate and a catechist for the Department of Evangelization and Catechesis. His service to the Diocese was recognized in 2007 by Bishop John M. Smith with a Nostrum Ecclesiam Tempus Award.
JULY 28, 2016 • TRENTONMonitor.com •
Lives OF FAITH • S47