James D. Lyons

Rev. James D. Lyons, 77, Senior Priest in Residence at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Dracut, died Sunday May 29, 2011.
Born in Lowell on December 23, 1933, he was a son of the late Charles and Josephine (Robinson) Lyons.
After graduating from Keith Academy in 1951, he studied at St. John's Seminary in Brighton and graduated in 1960. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross by Cardinal Richard Cushing on February 2, 1960. His first Mass was celebrated at St. Andrew Church in North Billerica where he spent his youth.
After his ordination, his assignments included Saint Leo Church in Dorchester from 1960 until 1965 and Saint Bridget Church in Abington from 1965 until 1975 where he served as an assistant priest. He became an associate priest while serving at St. Catherine of Genoa in Somerville from 1975 until 1985. In 1985, he served as Chaplain to the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. He was the Administrator at St. Michael Church in Avon from 1985 until 1986. From 1986 to 1991, he served as Pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in Danvers. From 1991 until 1996, he was Pastor at Most Precious Blood, Hyde Park. In 1994, he was appointed a member of the Presbyteral Council. From 1996 until 2006, he was Pastor at St. Mary Church in Rowley. Since 2006, Rev. Lyons had been the senior priest in residence at Ste. Marguerite D'Youville Parish in Dracut and St. Francis of Assisi in Dracut, where he resided.
Father Lyons is survived by a sister-in-law, Elizabeth Lyons of Ft. Meyers, FL; nieces, Deborah Joyce and her husband Jerry, Ellin Hanlon and her husband James; many cousins including Mary McGowan and her husband John, Raymond and Patricia Lyons, James D. Lyons, Elizabeth and William George, Ellen and Eugene Lois, Mary Ellen and Philip Shield, and John and Georgie Lyons.
Father Lyons was the brother of the late John J. Lyons.