Rev. Roger "Red" Lamoureux

Rev. Roger J. "Red" Lamoureux, OMI, 83, died on November 14, 2016, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, after a lengthy illness. He was a son of the late Emile J. and Marie-Ange (Landry) Lamoureux. He was predeceased by his brother, Emile L. Lamoureux.
Fr. Lamoureux was born in Lowell, Maasachusetts, and educated in Bucksport, Maine, at St. Joseph Oblate High School and Seminary, and at Oblate College in Bar Harbor, Maine. He completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Oblate Scholasticate, Natick, Massachusetts. Further studies followed at Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and the University of Maine, Orono, in mathematics and general education. He held a teacher's certification in Maine.
He entered the Oblate Novitiate in Colebrook, New Hampshire, on August 1, 1953, where he professed his first vows on August 2, 1954. He professed his perpetual vows on September 8, 1957, at the Scholasticate in Natick. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1959, at his home parish of St. Jean Baptiste in Lowell by Bishop Louis Collignon, OMI, Bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti. Following ordination he was assigned to the St. Jean Baptiste Province.
His first assignment was to the Oblate High School and Seminary in Bucksport where he was a teacher until 1966, then a vocations recruiter until 1970. He spent the next seven years as Superior and Bursar at Immaculata Retreat House in Willimantic, Connecticut. In 1976 he was assigned to the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, Matrimonial Tribunal.
In 1977 he was appointed Assistant Pastor at St. Mary Parish in Willimantic, as he continued his work on the Tribunal. He was named pastor of the parish in 1993, a ministry he maintained until he moved to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury in July of 2016. During his time on the Tribunal and as pastor of St. Mary Parish, he was involved in teaching physical education at St. Mary-St. Joseph School and was director of the St. Mary Folk Group. During his years at the parish, he facilitated many repairs, renovations and additions. He was the organizer and motivator for the new parish center. He was pastor when, on May 16, 2013, there was a devastating fire at the 110-year-old church. In the aftermath, he saw the parish through two difficult years, until it was officially re-opened on Saturday, June 20, 2015.
In addition to his Oblate family, Fr. Lamoureux is survived by a sister in law, Jacqueline Lamoureux, of Windham, New Hampshire; three nephews: Roger E. Lamoureux of Lowell, Paul Lamoureux and his husband, Darryl Tibble, of Joliet, Illinois, and Marc Lamoureux of Lowell; two nieces: Suzanne Toupin and her husband, Roger, of Windham, and Patricia Jayroe and her husband, Mark, of Lowell; as well as seven grand-nieces and nephews and eight great-grand-nieces and nephews.
All services will be in St. Mary Church, 46 Valley Street, Willimantic. Fr. Lamoureux's remains will be transported to the church November 17, 2016, where ceremonies for Reception of the Body and Vigil for the Deceased will take place beginning at 3:00 p.m. He will lie in state until 7 p.m., followed by a parish Mass for his repose. On Friday, November 18, 2016, at 11:00 a.m., a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Bishop Michael R. Cote, Diocese of Norwich. Interment will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, 96 Riverneck Road, E. Chelmsford, Massachusetts.