Deacon John Francis O'Keefe

Early Life

John Francis O’Keefe was born on April 1, 1922 at Semaphore. From a very early age John had something of a spark within him leading him to the ordained ministry, beginning in his childhood when he was an altar server at Semaphore parish. “I wanted to be a missionary, and when I was 17 I began studying for the priesthood with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart,” he said.  “But it didn’t work out and I left the Seminary.  God, in his marvelous way, had other plans for me.”

Business Life

He married his wife Margaret in 1949. He had a successful life in the commercial area and had some senior executive positions. Through most of his life much of his leisure time was devoted to works for the Church.  He was involved in the Lay Apostolate for many years. He was State President of the Legion of Mary for six years, a member of the first Diocesan Pastoral Council, the inaugural chairman of the Lay Apostolate Liaison Committee, member of the Knights of the Southern Cross, St Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Health Care Association and a great supporter of the Daughters of Charity and their works.
 
In 1970 his company, the ICI where he was a sales executive, transferred him to Sydney where he remained for eight years.  In 1977 his life took a dramatic turn. While on long service leave in Europe he became seriously ill, which brought on the decision to retire. He and Margaret returned to Adelaide in 1978.  As he regained his health he began to work more with the Church.

Path to Ordination

John still felt drawn to the ordained ministry in the Church and in 1981 he asked Archbishop Gleeson to allow him to study for the permanent diaconate. After a long delay the Archbishop approved and arranged for him to undertake studies at St Francis Xavier’s Seminary.  He did however say to him: “Remember the Sacrament of Marriage comes first.” His wife Margaret was fully supportive and often accompanied him to classes at the Seminary. He was ordained Deacon by the Archbishop on March 14, 1986.

At that stage the Archdiocese had only had one other Permanent Deacon, Walter Jewell. In 1987 a special committee, including John O’Keefe, was established to consider the wider promotion of the Permanent Diaconate, but it wasn’t till several years later that such a promotion eventuated.

Appointments

In August 1986 he was appointed to work as deacon in the Hectorville parish where there were three priests, 13,000 Catholics, of whom about 60% were of Italian origin, also a large school and 30 different groups or societies. Working mostly six days a week he was kept busy with baptisms, marriages, funerals, preaching at Masses in the local church, as well as giving religious instruction and taking Communion to the sick.  He was also chairman of the Liturgy Committee as well as spiritual adviser to the St Vincent de Paul. He described his life as busy, but varied and very interesting.  One of the great moments in his life was being Deacon at the Altar for the Papal Mass at Victoria Park on November 30th 1986.
 
In March 1992 Deacon John was appointed to the Dulwich-Burnside parish where he worked for the next five years. He continued in his various ministries as deacon. He said on one occasion that his experience in married life and his years in the workforce helped him in his parish work, particularly in trying to understand people and their everyday problems.

In 1994 John and Margaret attended the International Deacons Conference in New Orleans.  While there he became ill and had to have an operation on his carotid artery – he seemed to like having operations overseas!

On 14th September 1997, after undergoing triple by-pass surgery, Deacon John retired from active ministry. Initially he and Margaret continued to live in their home in Glenside, but then 2004 he moved to the Lourdes Valley Nursing Home, where he died on October 6, 2004.

His funeral Mass was celebrated on 10th October in St Peter Claver’s Church, Dulwich where he had been working. Two bishops and 27 priests concelebrated. During this Mass he was described as being “Our Lord’s instrument in serving the people of Adelaide and in particular the parishioners of Hectorville and Dulwich-Burnside.”  There he had  assisted in the celebration of Eucharist and the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage, preaching the Gospel and showing particular concern for the sick and dying. He was described as having had a self-effacing, gentle manner and his compassion, zeal, availability, kindness and down-to-earth common sense endeared him to many. He made friends easily, served them faithfully and help them in any way possible – the most loyal friend you could ever hope for.

Following the Funeral Mass his remains were interred at the Dudley Park Cemetery.

May he rest in peace.