Father James R. Shelton, who served as a full-time priest in
residence at Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville for seven years, died July 29
in Manassas.
Father Shelton was born June 16, 1933, in Youngstown, Ohio. He
was educated in Ohio and earned his bachelor’s in history from Youngstown State
University. He worked various jobs including in the U.S. Navy for four years
and as a high school history teacher for two.
He earned doctorates in sacred theology in 1991 and canon law in
1996 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome. Prior to his
doctorate in canon law, he earned his licentiate in canon law from the Roman
Atheneum of the Holy Cross in Rome, now a university, in 1993. In 1998, he earned
a degree in Catholic Church history from the Pontifical Gregorian University in
Rome. The same year, he applied to St. Charles Seminary in Guilford, Western
Australia.
He was ordained two years later June 30, 2000, for the
Archdiocese of Perth in Australia. He served there for 10 years until he
retired and returned to the United States, serving as a full-time priest in
residence at Holy Trinity from 2011 to 2018, before living in a private
residence.
He is predeceased by his parents, James Matthew Shelton and Sara
Marie Petty Shelton, as well as five siblings: John William Shelton, Ellen
Alice Shelton, William James Shelton, Thomas Francis Shelton and Charles
Patrick Shelton.
Father Shelton’s funeral Mass will be offered at
Holy Trinity Church Aug. 13 at 11 a.m.
There will be a viewing there Aug. 12, 4-8 p.m. He will be buried at the U.S. Marine Corps
cemetery in Quantico.
