Reverend William Francis O’Keefe, Class of 1960, died Monday, December 21, 2020. We extend our deepest sympathy to Fr. O’Keefe’s family and friends at this time of loss and offer them our prayerful support.

• A private Mass of Christian Burial is being planned for immediate members of the family. Plans for a Memorial Mass are also being organized for a date in 2021 in which more friends, family, and clergy can be present.
• A private burial will take place at Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield.
• Additional details will be provided when they are available.

May he rest in peace.

Reverend William Francis O’Keefe – Clergy Bio

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Reverend William Francis O’Keefe began his Catholic education at an early age, first studying at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Queens Village, New York, and then moving to Saint Peter’s School in New Haven and Notre Dame High School in West Haven. After completing his high school education, he began seminary studies at Saint Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield and Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, before completing his formation at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend Henry J. O’Brien at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford on May 28, 1960, Fr. O’Keefe received his first assignment, serving as an assistant at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Washington, Connecticut. Not long after, he would become the assistant at Sacred Heart Church in Bloomfield while also serving on the faculty of Mount Saint Joseph Academy in West Hartford. Subsequently, Fr. O’Keefe would serve as the Vice-Principal and then Principal of Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford and after that the Principal and later the President of South Catholic High School in Hartford. Following his time in the schools, he worked for a period at Catholic Digest, one of country’s most prominent Catholic magazines, while also providing ministerial assistance at Saint Bernard Church in Enfield as the Parochial Vicar for the parish community. In 2004, he received his final placement, being named the Administrator and then Pastor of Saint Thomas Church in Thomaston, where he would remain until his retirement in 2010.