Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine CATHOLIC www.biloxidiocese.org VOLUME 40 / NUMBER 8 December 9, 2022 “Good as gold”: slain Covington, La. priest Father Otis Young laid to rest BY DAVID TISDALE Family and friends are remembering Father Otis Wingo Young, Jr., for his unwavering devotion to his faith and those he loved, as they also grapple with the tragic nature of his death. Father Young, 71, a priest in the Archdiocese of New Orleans who most recently pastored at St. Peter Church in Covington, and Ruth Prats, a member of Saint Peter who worked as a caretaker for Father Young, were found dead in down- town Covington. A suspect in connection with their deaths, Antonio Tyson, 49, was arrested and is being held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. A funeral Mass for Father Young was held Monday, December 5, at St. Peter Church, with interment in the priest tomb at St. Joseph Abbey Cemetery, St. Benedict. A native of Houston, Texas, Father Young and his family moved to Columbia, Mississippi, when he was a child, where he attended the Columbia city schools, gradu- ating from Columbia High School in 1969. He served in the U.S. military, and upon returning to civilian life, earned a bache- lor’s degree in accounting before embark- ing on a decades-long career as a CPA. He was ordained into the priesthood of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2001 after completing his studies at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. “We were in the seminary together, but as he was a year behind me, we had no classes together, but I knew him and remember him being so positive, always a smile on his face, very friendly and outgoing,” said. Father Martin Gillespie, former pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Columbia and current pastor of St. Mary Parish in Woolmarket. “The only time I saw him after seminary was when he’d visit his family in Columbia and come to Mass at Holy Trinity. He was a great guy.” Father Young served as parochial vicar at St. Matthew the Apostle Church in River Ridge and St. Louis King of France Church in Metairie. He was parochial administra- tor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Belle Chasse and also served as pastor there, as well as at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Marrero and St. Peter Church in Covington, the latter until his retirement. Father Young also served on the finance council of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee. Mary Jo Blevins grew up in Columbia and was close to Father Young’s family, as she and his late sister Mary were close friends. She described him as “like being a big brother” to her and said it hurts her and others who knew him deeply to learn about the brutality of his death. News reports noted that it had been determined that Father Young and Prats both died from blunt force trau- ma and their bodies burned. Blevins said that when she thinks of how Father Young died, she considers also the brutality of how Jesus died on the cross and believes that in the same way the life of faith and service Father Young lived is revealed for all to see, even through the tragic circum- stances of his death. “He was such a good person, so devoted to the church, a dedicated altar boy when we were growing up together,” Blevins said. “I remember telling him once that he should become a priest, and I used to like to think that I was the one who inspired him to do that, but I’m sure plenty of other people told him the same thing. That’s how strong his faith and devotion to the Church was and everyone could see it.” Blevins was working to organize the Columbia High School Class of 1972 reunion when she learned through Father Young that Mary had passed. While a funeral service had already been conducted, Father Young told Blevins that her ashes had not yet been buried, and that plans were still be worked out for interment of her ashes next to other family members in Columbia. Blevins broached the idea of conducting the burial service during the weekend of the class reunion so Mary’s high school friends could be on hand; Father Young agreed, and, even though he was recover- ing himself from a massive stroke and heart issues, con- ducted the service. “It had been years since we had seen each other, and as I watched him conduct Mary’s burial service, I could still see in him that young altar boy from so many years ago, but on that day making the Word come alive as a seasoned priest,” Blevins said. “And I know many of those who were there for the service but who aren’t Catholic still came away blessed from the experience. “There’s a lot of good people, and a lot of not so good people, in every profession -- doctors, lawyers, teachers, you name it. But I know, I have no doubt, that he was one of the good ones in his, because he was a good person, always. He was good as gold.” Father Otis Young, the former pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington, LA, was killed in a double homicide less than a year after his retirement. Screenshot 2020 YouTube video/CNA