Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • November 29, 2019 9 Father Noel Fannon, 82, remembered as a loyal friend who served with much joy BY TERRY DICKSON DIOCESE OF BILOXI -- Father Noel Fannon, a retired priest of the Diocese of Biloxi, died Nov. 19. Father Fannon, 82, was living in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, at the time of his death. He returned to Ireland in 2011 after 50 years of active min- istry in Mississippi. “I was saddened to hear of the death of Father Fannon,” said Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III. “Although I never had the pleasure of meeting him, I have heard many stories of the tremendous impact he had on the lives of so many people during his half century of min- istry in the State of Mississippi. It was a great sacrifice for Father Fannon to leave his homeland and his family so many years ago to minister in mission territory. “We are grateful for that sacrifice, and for the many blessings he brought to so many as a result of his priestly ministry. We now entrust his soul to God, whom he so faithfully served. May he rest in peace.” Father Louis Lohan, who is also retired and lives in Ireland, said that although Father Fannon had been showing signs of old age, he recently got the go-ahead from his doctor to resume driving. He said he will remember Father Fannon, who lived 20 miles down the road, as “a gentle man and a gentleman.” “Noel was a true friend, a loyal friend, and he made lifelong friendships,” said Father Lohan. “He was a very inoffensive man. I doubt if he had any enemies whatsoever. He was a good, kind, patient man. I never saw him upset. “He was able to laugh at himself, and he wasn’t hung up on himself. He loved a good joke, and you could hear him laughing from half a mile away.” Anative of Four Mile House in County Roscommon, Ireland, Father Fannon, son of the late Thomas and Delia Fannon, was ordained on June 10, 1961, at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Carlow, Ireland. He arrived in the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson Sept. 26, 1961. His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Paul Parish in Vicksburg, where he served from September 1961 to April 1962. He spent five months as associate pastor of Our Lady of Victories Parish in Pascagoula before returning to St. Paul. SEE FATHER FANNON, PAGE 18