Date of death: 10/8/2012
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1958
From the Lea Funeral Home:Monsignor Thomas P. Hadden, V.E., Vicar for African Ancestry Ministry and Evangelization, Diocese of Raleigh, departed this life on Monday, October 8, 2012. Mass of Christian Burial, 10:30 AM, Thursday, October 11, 2012, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2718 Overbrook Drive, Raleigh. Vigil and visitation, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, Wednesday, October 10, 2012, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Raleigh. Interment, Carolina Biblical Gardens. Survivors: Sister, Mary A. Bryant of Fayetteville, NC; Nieces, Clarice Spence of Raleigh, Zerita Hudson of Oxen Hill, MD, and Zelda McCullers of Raleigh; Nephews, Charles Rand (Loraine) of Raleigh, Carlton Hadden of Upper Marlboro, MD, Robert Hinton, Jr. (Annie) of Hamden, CT, and Randez Hadden (Robin) of Clinton, MD.From Star News Online:Monsignor Thomas P. Hadden, one of the first black pastors of a predominantly white parish in the South and a longtime leader of St. Mary School, the oldest Catholic institution in North Carolina, died Monday morning after a short illness. He was 83.Hadden, who served as pastor of Wilmington’s St. Mary Catholic Church and director of St. Mary School for 15 years, died in Southern Pines, according to the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. Hadden was born in Raleigh on May 31, 1929, and was educated at seminaries in Mississippi, Indiana and at the North American College in Rome, where he was the first black seminarian to enroll at the school. He was ordained in Rome on Dec. 20, 1958.Among other appointments, Hadden served at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Newton Grove, St. Paul Church in New Bern and St. Joseph in Raleigh before arriving in Wilmington in 1985 to lead St. Mary’s.With the help of the other church leaders and parishioners, the priest organized St. Mary’s Social Ministries, an outreach program that provides emergency food, clothing and furniture to the needy.To meet the needs of a rising elderly population in the area, Hadden’s ministry also led to the development of Hadden Hall apartments, an 80-unit complex on Caswell Street that provides low-income housing to seniors.Hadden’s willingness to welcome newcomers G╟⌠ even those who could not understand English services G╟⌠ helped build a congregation of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds at St. Mary’s.