Father Michael J. Roy, 77, retired diocesan priest

WORCESTER – Father Michael J. Roy, 77, of Worcester, passed away peacefully with family by his side on Feb. 21 at the Notre Dame Long Term Care and Rehabilitation Center.  

He was a recently retired priest who still ministered to people and let them minister to him.

Father Roy was born in Worcester on Aug. 25, 1947, the son of Frank and Marguerite (Rushford) Roy.  

He attended St. Joseph’s Grammar School and then Our Lady of the Angels Parish School in Worcester, graduating in 1961.  

At age 14, he began vocational studies at St. John Atonement Prep School in Montour Falls, New York. After graduating from high school, Father Roy began his novitiate training at St. Joseph’s School in Saranac Lake, New York, to become a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement (Graymoor Friar). He completed preparation for priesthood with the Worcester diocese.  

He attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned his bachelor’s degree. While there he helped rescue many Washingtonians during the race riots in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  

“If I had to sum him up in one word, it would be, ‘kindness,’” said Stigmatine Father Gregory J. Hoppough, who resides at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Milford and has known Father Roy since 1968 when they were students at Catholic University. “He was such a gentle and kind person that he lifted everybody up.”

Father Roy earned his master’s degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He continued his preparation for priesthood at the Atonement Seminary and the Washington Theological Coalition near Washington, D.C., and completed his priestly studies at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton in 1975.  

He was a deacon at Sacred Heart in Milford and was ordained to the priesthood at Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Worcester nearly 50 years ago, on December 8, 1975.  
After ordination he became associate pastor of St. Louis Parish, Webster. In November 1976 he was named associate of St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Westminster, and in December 1979 he went to St. Mary Parish, Shrewsbury.

On July 8, 1982, he was named co-pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Milford. He was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Webster, on June 14, 1991 and pastor of St. Roch Parish, Oxford, on July 1, 2011. In July 2022 he was named pastor of St. Ann Parish in North Oxford, while remaining pastor of St. Roch’s.

He served as a senior priest at St. Anne Parish in Southborough in 2023 before retiring.
Father Roy also took delight in special ministries, participating in the Fraternity of Priests in the Worcester diocese and in Rhode Island, helping with Cursillo weekends, diocesan television Masses, and the establishment of the perpetual adoration chapel at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster, serving as chaplain of the Serra Club of Southern Worcester County, and, most proudly, being a longtime board member of Visitation House in Worcester. He was tirelessly devoted to these ministries, finding the strength through his devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and his faith in God.

“Visitation House was his heart,” commented Jennifer de De Mora, program director at this home for pregnant women in need. When babies cried as he celebrated Mass there, he said it was a joy to hear them and told the mothers, “Don’t feel like you have to leave.”

“I think the women ... really felt that, and felt so included,” she said. She called him when residents were struggling and he met with them, showing warmth equally to everyone, she said.  

Father Roy’s love of travel was evident in the pilgrimages he helped organize and lead – to the Holy Land, Rome and other sacred sites in Italy – on multiple occasions. Devoted to the Blessed Mother, he also visited Medjugorje, Fatima and Mexico City.
Dr. Madeline Colón-Usowicz, who is involved at St. Roch’s in Oxford and Sacred Heart and St. Louis parishes in Webster, got to support that devotion in a special way.

Hosting a missionary image of Our Lady of Guadalupe last December, she and her family brought the image to him at Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. It was Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“He was just taken aback,” and said, “This is the answer to my prayer,” she recalled. In a thank you note, he said he was constantly using the rosary she touched to the image for him.

Attendees of Light of the World retreats he helped bring to St. Roch’s and Sacred Heart plan to wear the retreat crosses in his memory, she said.

“He would do anything for anyone,” said St. Roch parishioner Barbara Wessell. She said Father Roy was her sponsor when she was confirmed as an adult. She called this priest who took parishioners on the March for Life in Washington, D.C., and celebrated Mass at Problem Pregnancy in Worcester, “a staunch defender of human life,” and said he left the world a better place.  

Father Roy was the first recipient of the Diocese of Worcester’s Gospel of Life Award in 2006.

When Father Roy was no longer able to participate in day-to–day parish life, due to failing health, he continued to minister while living at the Goddard House, Homestead Hall, and Notre Dame Long-Term Care Center in Worcester.  

Besides friends and associates, he leaves his sister, Annemarie “Bonnie” Luks and his brother, Jack Roy.  

In addition to his parents, Father Roy was predeceased by his brothers Richard Roy, who is survived by his wife, Patricia Roy, and Paul Roy, who is survived by his wife, Deborah Roy-Barker. Father Roy had 11 nieces and nephews: Lynann Lussier, James Luks, Sharon Ciejka, Richard Roy, Wendy Moran, Rene Zukowski, Matthew Roy, Dennis Roy, Melinda Roy, Stephanie Roy and Veronica Roy. He also leaves behind many aunts, uncles and cousins.  

In addition to Father Roy’s many friends, the family wishes to particularly acknowledge Marianne Power, Rick Shivick, Father Richard Trainor, Father Gregory Hoppough, CSS, and Sister Mary Ann Bartell, CSE, for the unfailing friendship, guidance and comfort they gave him.  

Memorial contributions in memory of Father Roy may be made to Visitation House, 119 Endicott St., Worcester, MA 01610.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27, from 4-7 p.m. in St. Roch Church, 332 Main St., Oxford with a vigil service to be held at 7 p.m.  
 
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Bishop McManus on Friday, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. in Our Lady of the Angels Church, 1222 Main St. Worcester. Burial will immediately follow in Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester.  
 
Funeral arrangements are under the care of Alfred Roy & Sons Funeral Home, 12 Hammond St., Worcester. To share a memory or to sign the guestbook for Father Roy, please visit royfuneral.com.