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Overcast Sacred Heart pastor is moving on
The Rev. Thomas Gallagher, best known to the community as Father Gallagher, said he plans to retire as pastor of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in North Merrick in June.
Gallagher has been associated with Sacred Heart since 1972, when he began assisting the church during special events and on weekends. In 1993 he became its pastor, taking over administrative duties for the church and succeeding the Rev. Harold Langley. Gallagher has held the position ever since.
His successor will be the Rev. Joseph Nixon. Gallagher said he plans to move to Pennsylvania, where he hopes to teach.
“I am not unhappy handing over the reins to someone else to run the place,” Gallagher said. “The only thing I ever wanted to do when I got ordained was to teach. And the only thing I’ve done since I got ordained was administrate. So this will be a nice transition in life to maybe settle down and do some teaching.”
Traditionally, a Roman Catholic pastor serves two six-year terms. However, Gallagher said that when he completed his second term in 2005, Bishop William Murphy agreed that he should remain for one more term, since Sacred Heart was about to begin construction on a new church, and Murphy wanted Gallagher to remain until the project was completed.
Gallagher, 70, grew up in Green Point, Brooklyn, and has lived in Merrick for the last two decades since returning to Sacred Heart full-time in 1990. “Merrick has kept abreast of the real world, there’s no doubt about that,” he said of his time here. “It’s a very nice community. There’s a nice family spirit.”
His first assignment was at the St. Francis de Chantal Parish in Wantagh before he began assisting at Sacred Heart. After several years, Gallagher left Merrick for Washington, D.C., to work for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops secretary for education.
He stayed in Washington from 1979 to 1990, dealing with the White House and attending meetings in the Oval Office. He even once found himself sitting at a table eating jellybeans with President Reagan. “It was a very broadening experience,” he said, “and a very good one.”
