A memorial Mass is planned for Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, SJ, on Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 9 a.m. in Christ the King Chapel on the Canisius University campus.
Father Cooke, former president of Canisius University and former provincial of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, passed away on June 22, 2017 in Murray-Weigel Hall on the Fordham University campus, from pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
Rev. Michael F. Tunney, SJ, rector of the Fairfield University Jesuit Community and former director of Mission and Identity at Canisius University, will serve as the principal celebrant and homilist.
Father Cooke served as the 23rd president of Canisius University from July 1993 through July 2010. During his tenure, he led a dramatic transformation of Canisius from a local commuter college into a regionally-prominent residential, comprehensive university through his strategic pursuit of high-quality academics, faculty, facilities and students.
After retiring from Canisius, he returned to New York City to become assistant to the provincial for higher education for the New York Province of the Society of Jesus. Later he served as assistant for strategic planning for the Maryland, New England and New York Provinces.
Read more about Father Cooke here.
