1906 – 1985 (October 29)
Alfred A.Pacitto, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 12, 1906, to Luciano Pacitto and Angelina Coia, and was baptized in Saint Paul’s Church on Christian Street on December 16. As a youth in the Parish of Saint Rita, he was one of the first boys sent to the Augustinian minor seminary, Staten Island, by Father Matthew Corcoran, O.S.A., of Saint Rita. He attended Saint Rita Grammar School and then entered the Augustinian Order at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island. After novitiate, he professed vows on August 16, 1927 and began philosophical studies at Villanova. Upon graduation from Villanova University in June 1931, he pursued theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, DC, where he was ordained to the priesthood at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on June 12, 1934 by Bishop McNamara.
After ordination Father Pacitto was assigned to Holy Rosary Parish, Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1938 he was transferred to the Colegio San Agustin, Havana, Cuba, where there was much unrest following the Batista takeover of the government. Despite the uneasiness he felt as a foreigner, he managed to teach classes during the week, to celebrate Mass on Sundays in Marianao, and to serve as an auxiliary chaplain during World War II. In that capacity, he was flown regularly from Camp Colombia, Marianao, to San Julian, at the eastern end of Cuba, to celebrate Mass at a U.S. Naval installation.In 1946, Father Pacitto returned to the United States and was assistant pastor in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island. In 1950 he returned to Saint Augustine Church in Cuba and served there until 1961 when he was transferred once again to Holy Rosary Parish in Lawrence. Subsequent assignments were: Our Lady of Good Counsel, Staten Island from 1966 to 1968; Saint Augustine, Andover, Massachusetts in 1968; Our Lady of the Angels, Jacksonville, Florida from 1968 to 1975. In 1975, because of ill health he retired to the community at Monsignor Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Later he took up residence at Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts, and then at Saint Thomas Monastery, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
After a stroke and lengthy illness Father Pacitto died at Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital on October 29, 1985. He is buried in the Augustinian plot at Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
