Fr. Thomas Jeremias Kaveney died on Wednesday, October 29, 2014, at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn. Fr. Kaveney was the Pastor Emeritus of Mater Christi Parish in North Riverside, and was a recent resident of St. Odilo Parish in Berwyn. He was 93 years old.
Fr. Kaveney was born in Chicago on September 7, 1921, and attended Visitation School in Chicago. He was a graduate of Quigley Preparatory Seminary. Fr. Kaveney graduated from the University of St. Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, ordained him into the priesthood on May 3, 1947.
Fr. Kaveney’s first assignment was Christ the King Parish on 93rd Street in Chicago, serving as Associate Pastor for nine years. In 1956, he moved to Maternity B.V.M. Parish in Chicago, where he served in the same capacity until 1962. Fr. Kaveney was then assigned to St. George Parish in Tinley Park for five years. During his time at St. George, he became a Civil Air Patrol Chaplain, from 1966 to 1967. Fr. Kaveney spent another three years at St. Linus Parish in Oak Lawn, until 1970. That same year, he was named Pastor of St. Justin the Martyr Parish (closed in 1989) on 71st Street in Chicago and remained there for nine years. Fr. Kaveney moved to Mater Christi Parish in North Riverside and became Pastor in 1981. He served as Pastor of Mater Christi Parish for ten years, retiring in 1991 as Pastor Emeritus.
Rev. Anthony Brankin, Pastor of St. Odilo Parish in Berwyn, remembered Fr. Kaveney as, “a very humble and kind person, who was very devout. Fr. Kaveney had a terrible disability in his leg, but despite that, he always said Mass. Because he couldn’t maneuver the stairs very well, they would set up a card table on the main level of the floor so that he could still be able to say Mass.” He went on to say, “he had a beautiful singing voice, always singing many Irish songs.”
Fr. Kaveney is survived by his sister, Eileen Reilly.