CHILDS, MD. — Father Anthony J. Larry, 78, a Wilmington native and an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, died Sept. 10. He was a professed member of the congregation for 59 years.
Father Larry attended Christ Our King and Salesianum schools, and he entered the Oblates upon his high school graduation in 1957. He was ordained to the priesthood in October 1967 at the Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.
His ministries were varied. As an educator, he taught at several Oblate high schools, including Salesianum. He served in parish ministry in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Wilmington. Father Larry also served as assistant novice master at the Oblate novitiate in Childs, Md., in the early 1970s and as chaplain of the Franciscan Care Center in Hockessin in the late 1990s.
He had been assigned to the Oblate retirement community in Childs since 2003 and assisted at Immaculate Conception Parish in Elkton, Md., until 2010.
Father Larry was known for his love of all things liturgical, especially the celebration of the Eucharist. He was a member of the liturgical commissions for the Diocese of Wilmington and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
In addition to his Oblate community, Father Larry is survived by his sister Margaret Bilecki and her husband, Milton, and sister Sara Watson and her husband, Robert.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church, 454 Bow St., on Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. Visitation will be held from 9-10:50 a.m. Burial will be in the Oblate Cemetery, Childs. Donations in Father Larry’s name can be made to the Oblate Development Fund, 2200 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806.
