WEST?GREENWICH — Rev. Peter G. Young, 89, pastor emeritus of Holy Ghost Church in Tiverton, died on November 8.
Born in Providence, a son of the late Frederick W. and Mary F. (Roe) Young, he attended the former St. Anthony School, LaSalle Academy, and Providence College in Providence. He completed studies for the priesthood at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Warwick Neck. He was ordained a priest on May 31, 1947 at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence by Bishop Francis P. Keough.
During the summer of 1947 Father Young served as chaplain at the Provincial House of the Sisters of Mercy in Cumberland. In September 1947 he was appointed assistant pastor at St. Joseph Church in Newport and from there he was transferred to St. Patrick Church, Providence in September 1964.
In June 1971 he became the pastor of Holy Ghost Church in Tiverton and remained there until June 1994 when he retired as pastor emeritus. In addition to his pastoral duties, while in Newport Father Young also was the director of Catholic Cemeteries in Newport (1957-60). In January 1960 he was appointed spiritual director of the Salve Regina Alumnae Association.
In March 1966 he became the Newman Club chaplain to the students at Rhode Island Junior College and also diocesan consultor. Then in 1971 he became chaplain of the Serra Club of Newport County. In 1975 he was elected treasurer of the Priests’ Senate. In 1986 he became the Faithful Friar of the Father Joseph B. Donahue Assembly, Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.
After his retirement, Father Young became a resident of Warwick and assisted as chaplain at Kent County Hospital. In June 1994 he received from Providence College the “Bishop Hawkins Award.” In 1994 he moved to the former St. Lawrence rectory in North Providence, where he assisted in the parish and also served as administrator pro tem in early 1997. When St. Lawrence Parish closed in 2010, he became the Senior Priest in residence at Saint Ann Parish in Cranston, where he served until his illness last month.
He is survived by his sister, Claire L. Smaldone of Warwick; two brothers, Frederick W. Young, Jr. of Boulder, Colo., and John J. Young of East Hampton, Conn.; and many nieces and nephews. He was the brother of the late Virginia M. Magnan and Alice M. Young.
A concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial for the repose of his soul was offered Nov. 13 at St. Ann Church, Cranston with Bishop Louis E. Gelineau as the main celebrant and other clergy concelebrating. Rev. Farrell McLaughlin, pastor of St. Ann, was the homilist.
Burial was in St. Joseph Cemetery, West Greenwich.
