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Fr. Frank J. Ready dies at 84

Catholic Herald Staff Report

Fr. Frank J. Ready passed away Jan. 20 at INOVA Fairfax Hospital.

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Father Frank J. Ready
, former vicar general of Pastoral
Services, died Jan. 20 at INOVA Fairfax Hospital after a long
illness.

Funeral services are planned for Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. at Holy
Spirit Church in Annandale.

“Along with the clergy, religious and laity, who form this
diocesan Church of Arlington, I am profoundly saddened by the
death of Father Frank J. Ready on Jan. 20,” said Arlington
Bishop Paul S. Loverde. “God’s word reminds us that we have
not here a lasting city but urges us to keep our eyes fixed
on Jesus, our Savior and our Lord, Who has gone before us to
prepare an eternal dwelling for us in His Father’s House.

“Father Ready was a person of quiet yet deep faith; he put
his trust in Christ Jesus, so our fervent prayer is that our
blessed Lord will give him eternal life and peace.

“Father Ready served so faithfully God’s people in both the
Diocese of Richmond and our own Diocese of Arlington as an
associate pastor; pastor of several parishes, three of which
he founded and developed: the Church of St.
Thérèse in Chesapeake, Nativity in Burke, and
Sacred Heart in Manassas,” Bishop Loverde said. “His wise
counsel and ever faithful presence strengthened the Diocesan
Council of Catholic Women as their chaplain, the Knights of
Columbus in Virginia as the associate state chaplain, the
women and men living the consecrated life as the vicar for
religious, and our entire diocesan family as a Vicar General.
He was gentle, patient and unfailingly kind, reflecting the
Lord Jesus in his priestly life and ministry.

“I shall personally miss his service and his counsel,” the
bishop said. “Our united prayer accompanies him into the
house of the Lord. May he rest in peace and intercede for us
still on pilgrimage.”

Father Ready was born June 8, 1930, in Nantick, Mass., the
only child of Frank and Mary Ready. After his mother’s early
death, his father married Doris Raymond, and they had one son
and three daughters. Father Ready and his siblings grew up
largely in Fitchburg, Mass., where he was an altar server at
St. Bernard Church.

He entered the seminary for the Maryknoll Fathers, but
transferred to the Richmond Diocese, which then included all
of Virginia and some counties in West Virginia.
He was ordained by Richmond Bishop John J. Russell May 11,
1959.

He served as associate pastor of St. Bede Church in
Williamsburg, 1959-60; St. Bridget Church, Richmond, 1960-62;
St. Vincent Church, Newport News, 1962-65; and St. Michael
Church, Annandale, 1965-70.

Also for the Richmond Diocese, he was on the faculty of St.
John Vianney Seminary from 1960 to 1962, and worked as
executive director of Catholic Charities from 1962 to 1965.

He was the founding pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Portsmouth,
1970-73;
Nativity Parish, Burke, 1973-84
; and Sacred Heart Parish,
Manassas, 1984-95. In 1995, he was appointed pastor of
Holy Spirit Church in Annandale where he served until
2005.

He served as dean of Deanery V, 1991-95, and dean of Deanery
II, 1997-2003. He was named to the diocesan college of
consultors in 2000 and vicar general for pastoral services in
2005.

He served for many years on the board of directors of the
Arlington Catholic Herald.

In 2013, he became vicar general emeritus with retired
status. In retirement, he continued serving as coordinator of
spiritual formation, moderator of the diocesan Peace and
Social Justice Commission, member of the diocesan presbyteral
council, chaplain to the Arlington Diocesan Council of
Catholic Women and associate state chaplain of the Knights of
Columbus.

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