Long-Serving Somerville Priest Dies

Father Henry Jennings came to Somerville's St. Joseph's Parish in 1966, and over the next 46 years he presided over countless weddings, funerals, baptisms and services in his Union Square parish.

On Saturday, Jennings passed away at the age of 83, according to Mary Pothier, secretary of St. Joseph's.

Pothier said Jennings was "my very best friend in the whole wide world," having worked with him for 37 years.

She said Jennings was "kind, generous and caring" and that he was "a friend to everyone, one of the greatest people, one of the greatest priests I've ever met."

Over nearly half a century in Somerville, he conducted "generations of weddings, baptisms and funerals," she said.

Jennings stepped down from his regular duties at St. Joseph's in May of 2012, and he moved to Regina Cleri, a retirement home for priests.

According to The Boston Pilot, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Jennings was born in Allston in 1930 and graduated from Boston College with a degree in economics in 1952.

He served in the Army during the Korean War and spent two years working in New York before being drawn to the priesthood, the newspaper says. Pothier said he also spent some time as a teacher in Boston.

Upon giving up his duties at St. Joseph's in 2012, Jennings told The Boston Pilot it was "like leaving family behind."

"They aren't parishioners," he said of the members of his parish, "they're family."

St. Joseph's is planning services and a funeral for Jennings, Pothier said.

On Thursday, July 18, he will lie in repose at Regina Cleri from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

He will be coming to St. Joseph's on Friday to lie in repose from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph's.