Father Samuel L. Vaccarella, T.O.R., 78, a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, died Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at Maybrook Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Altoona, PA.
Born October 30, 1944 in Camden, New Jersey, the son of Samuel and Ethel (Law), Sam grew up nearby in Mount Ephraim. After grade school and completion of his freshman year at Camden Catholic H.S., he enrolled as a sophomore at Saint Francis Prep School in Spring Grove, and also became a candidate with the Third Order Regular Franciscans. Following his graduation from St. Francis Prep in 1963, Fr. Samuel completed his novitiate year and then attended Saint Francis College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 1968.
Fr. Samuel later attended Glassboro State College and served as an elementary school teacher at Saint Rose of Lima in Haddon Heights, New Jersey before professing solemn vows with the Franciscans in 1976. A year later, after the completion of his theological studies at Saint Francis Seminary in Loretto, he was ordained to the Priesthood on May 14, 1977.
Following his ordination, Father Samuel served on the faculty at his high school alma mater, Saint Francis Prep School, for several years before serving for four years as a member of the Franciscan’s formation team in Toronto, Ontario and another four years as the superior at Holy Spirit Monastery at the University of Steubenville (Ohio).
From 1988 to 1992, Fr. Samuel engaged in parish ministry as Parochial Vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon, Virginia and Pastor at Assumption Catholic Church in Keyser, West Virginia before enrolling in a three-year Master of Science program in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland.
Following the completion of that degree and with his background in education and parish ministry, Fr. Samuel served for over twenty years in the following ministries: an instructor at Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C.; local minister at St. Francis Friary; and retreat director at St. Pius in New Jersey, Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa, Florida and San Damiano Retreat Center in White Post, Virginia before retiring in 2017.
Throughout his life, Fr. Samuel loved to visit and vacation with his extensive family in New Jersey. In his spare time, Fr. Samuel was also an avid stamp collector, coin collector, and had a love for gardening, camping and fishing.
Preceded in death by his parents, Fr. Samuel is survived by his sisters Jo Ann (Richard) Gallagher, Nancy (James) Karaskiewicz, and Linda (Edward) Fort; nephews Brian and Samuel Gallagher, and Edward Fort, and niece Sheri (Thomas) Tideman; as well as cousins, grand niece and his Franciscan Community.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at St. Francis Friary Mount Assisi with the Very Rev. Joseph Lehman, T.O.R., Minister Provincial as principal celebrant. Following the Mass, interment took place at the Franciscan Friars’ Cemetery on the campus of Saint Francis University, Loretto, PA.