Bidding farewell to Tom Barrett

BEACON PHOTO | CECILE PAGLIARULO

FOND FAREWELL  Thomas and Patricia Barrett with a papal blessing from Pope Francis given on the occasion of Barrett’s retirement from the Diocese of Paterson on Dec. 31.

CLIFTON  Growing up in a faith-filled Catholic family, it seemed providential that Thomas Barrett’s life would lead him in the direction of serving the Church. For his family, volunteering for activities at their parish, St. Andrew the Apostle in Clifton, was always a priority.

Now Barrett looks back at his 48 years of service to the Church of Paterson and the moments that have shaped his life as he retires from the Diocese on Dec. 31 and begins the next chapter of his life. His wife, Patricia Barrett, director of pastoral care at the Depart­ment of Persons with Disabilities (DPD), an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities, will also be retiring. The couple plans to spend time with their children and grandchildren, who live out of state in Florida and Colorado.

“Pat and I have been extremely blessed in our lives to have worked in various diocesan roles and ministries,” said Barrett. “It has truly been wonderful to work with so many great priests and people. Knowing and working with Msgr. John Wehrlen in the DPD ministry is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us.”

Barrett began his service to the Church of Paterson in 1972 as a volunteer at Murray House, a group home for the DPD originally located in Paterson (now in Clifton), which was established by Msgr. Wehrlen, founding director of the DPD. Barrett said, “That was probably the most significant event in my life, volunteering at Murray House as a teenager and being so inspired by Father Jack. That gave me a new purpose and direction in my life. I was just starting college, so I enrolled in the Special Education teaching program.”

At 18, he became a live-in volunteer at Murray House, which was another life changing-experience, to understand the many gifts of those with special needs. “Murray House relied purely on volunteers, many of whom are my best friends to this day. It was a wonderful place where everyone was accepted, valued and loved,” he told The Beacon.

Barrett was graduated from the former St. Andrew the Apostle School, Clifton, and the former Neuman Prep, Wayne. He holds a bachelor’s degree in special education; dual certification teaching certificate, special education/elementary education; a graduate certificate in non-profit and public management, and a master’s degree in social science/public administration with concentration in non-profit management, all from William Paterson University, Wayne.

Over the years, Barrett became more and more involved in Murray House. “That eventually turned into a ‘paid job,’ that is, when Father Wehrlen occasionally had an extra few bucks to pay us, but the staff was really family so that wasn’t even important,” he said. “When there was no money and little food for the group home residents, we packed everyone into a van and brought the gang over to our parents’ homes where they could have a meal. Part of the Murray House was a family that was being creative.”

Being so actively involved in his faith, Barrett also met his wife through the Church at a high school retreat. “Our all-boy high school senior class was there with the youth group from Holy Name Parish in Garfield, where Pat was a member of the folk group. I first proposed marriage to 16-year-old Patricia on that retreat and kept at it for years until she finally relented and we married in 1977.”

In 1982, Barrett became executive director at DPD. This was another life-changing moment. He and his wife, along with their baby daughter Dana, went from living at Murray House on Main Street in Paterson, which they enjoyed and loved, to Oak Ridge on a rural farm. “We moved up to a dilapidated farm house in Oak Ridge and endured the shock of ‘quietness,’ away from the sirens, the Cathedral bells across the street and the constant traffic below Murray House,” Barrett said. “The farmhouse was a total wreck. I enlisted help from friends, my father and my uncle who spent months with us repairing it to make the house habitable. Over those years, we made it a nice old home and raised our three children there, eventually learning to enjoy the beautiful rural area.”

One of his most important marks he made as executive director of DPD is helping the agency enter the digital world. “A big event to me was in 1984 when I became intrigued by the Apple computer Super Bowl commercial that introduced the world to the computers,” he said. “I saw a great potential for helping our work at DPD with the increasing demand of paperwork that was constantly expanding. I bought a Commodore 64 computer and became an instant computer enthusiast.”

Through the years, the staff developed its own software for managing the DPD group homes. Then it was copyrighted and licensed to other similar statewide organizations, which brought extra revenue into the DPD.

In 1993, he received the papal honor of being named a Knight of St. Gregory.

In 2007, Msgr. James Mahoney, former diocesan vicar general, asked Barrett to work in the Chancery Office and became its chief operating officer with a five-year commitment.

“I found the Chancery staff to be wonderful, dedicated people, much like my experience in the prior 35 years that I was associated with Murray House and the DPD programs. The best thing about working in the Diocese is the tremendous, smart, talented people who live their faith and the mission of the Church,” he said.

He went on to serve in his current role overseeing Chancery technology, the Child Protection Office and projects like visiting parishes. Meeting the people of the Diocese is a favorite memory he has in addition to and working alongside Dominican Sister Catherine McDonnell, who served as vice chancellor for planning/urban ministry, until being elected prioress of her order a few years ago. He also enjoyed and understood the important work in serving the Child Protection office and said he is proud of the Church of Paterson’s work in ensuring every child is safe. “Eric Wilsusen has now completely taken over the oversight of child protection and I have every confidence in him and look forward to being one of his volunteers,” Barrett said. “This program is so essential and important — most people have no idea how vigilant we have be over our children in all areas of the community. After the training, it is always so rewarding to hear from people who didn’t really want to be there in the first place for two and half hours, to say that it was empowering information that will change them and help their children.”

After serving for five years as COO, he was named the Diocese’s coordinator of special projects and services, with a variety of different duties including serving as webmaster of the Diocese’s website (www.rcdop.org), helping nearly every parish in the Diocese sign on to using eCatholic for their websites, and launching Flocknote as a communications tool in every parish for parishes to stay in touch with their parishioners through the latest technology.

Bishop Sweeney and the Diocese honored Barrett for his many years of service to the Church of Paterson at the annual Christ­mas Mass for the Chancery staff Dec. 21 in St. Philip Church here.

Even though the Barretts are saying farewell to working in the Paterson Diocese, they will remain close to the Church’s work and will volunteer in whatever way needed. “Pat and I both plan to volunteer with the Diocese and Catholic Charities in whatever way we can be helpful. I am grateful to have been called to work in the Paterson Diocese and participate in its mission to be of service of God’s people.”