Raymond A. Steen

Rev. Raymond A. Steen, O.M.I., 87, died on December 4, 2019, at home in Abington, Massachusetts. He was a son of the late Raymond Francis and Catherine Rebecca (Foley) Steen. He was predeceased by his two brothers, Joseph and Russell and two brothers-in-law, Charles Surratt and Larry Norton.
Fr. Steen was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was educated at St. Francis de Sales Parochial School in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and Sacred Heart Central High School in Kingston, Massachusetts. He received a BA in Philosophy from Oblate College in Washington, DC.
In the fall of 1953, Fr. Steen entered the novitiate of the Missionary Oblates in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where he also professed his first vows as a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1954. He professed his perpetual vows in Essex, New York, on September 8, 1957. On May 31, 1960, he was ordained to the priesthood by the late Bishop Francis J. McSorley, O.M.I., in Washington, DC.
Following his ordination, Fr. Steen spent a pastoral year in Washington, DC. where he taught religion at Regina High School. He was then assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1965, he was assigned to Holy Angels Parish in Buffalo, New York where he spent two years prior to becoming a chaplain in the United States Air Force attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. He was a USAF chaplain from 1967 to 1989. He served in the United States in North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Alabama, North Carolina and Indiana, as well as in Thailand, Japan, Germany, England, and Vietnam. This was followed by several years as a prison chaplain in Kansas, Colorado and New Jersey. From 2003 until 2010, he was part-time chaplain at the Metro West Medical Center, Framingham, Massachusetts. In 2007 he became chaplain to the Poor Sisters of Jesus Crucified and the Sorrowful Mother, at Our Lady of Sorrows Convent in Brockton, Massachusetts. He also did ministry at several parishes in Massachusetts: St. Albert the Great, East Weymouth; St. Jude, Waltham; and St. Mary, Quincy.
In addition to his Oblate family, Fr. Steen is survived by three sisters: Patricia Ann Steen, Mary Jacqueline Surratt, and Ruth Karen Norton; and by two sisters-in-law, Nancy Steen (widow of Joseph) and Ann Steen (widow of Russell). He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, great grand-nieces and great grand-nephews.
Calling hours will be held on Monday, December 9, 2019, from 4-8 p.m. at McDonald Keohane Funeral Home, 809 Main Street, South Weymouth, Massachusetts. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Rev. John W. Hanley, O.M.I., on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Albert the Great Church, 1140 Washington Street, Weymouth, Massachusetts. Fr. Steen's remains will be transported to the Missionary Oblates' Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, December 10, for subsequent services and burial.
Services and calling hours will be held in the Chapel at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury. Calling hours will be on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, from 7-9 p.m. There will not be a prayer service on Tuesday. A Wake service will be held on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, at 10 am, followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 11:00 a.m. The Mass will be celebrated by the Most Rev. Robert F. Hennessey, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston. Interment will take place in the Oblate Cemetery at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence.
Donations in memory of Fr. Steen may be made to the Oblate Infirmary Fund, 486 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, MA 01876-2849.