1895 – 1968 (April 29)
Joseph M. Paquette was born in Hyde Park, MA, on July 19, 1895 to Daniel Paquette and Mary Ann White. He received his primary education at Saint Raphael School in Hyde Park. After the family moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada, he entered Souris High School and Saint Dunstan’s College Preparatory School there. Joseph was received into the novitiate in July 1917, and made his profession of vows on July 23, 1918. He graduated from Villanova College in 1920 and did graduate work in Chemistry at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he received his Master’s degree in 1924. He was solemnly professed on July 23, 1921, and was ordained to the priesthood by Michael J. Crane, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, on September 22, 1923 at Saint Thomas of Villanova Church, Villanova, PA.
After a brief stay at Saint John’s Church in Schaghticoke, New York, Father Paquette taught in various schools of the Order in Ojai and San Diego, California. Aurora, Illinois, and at Malvern Preparatory School, Malvern, PA. In 1936 he was appointed to Villanova College where he served as Assistant Professor in the Chemistry and Mathematics Department until his retirement four years later. During his tenure at Villanova, he spent a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology completing his studies for his Master’s of Science degree which he received in 1940. He was elected to the Honor Society of Sigma Xi, becoming a member of the M.I.T. Chapter. He also spent a year at the University of Chicago in 1946 taking special courses in Chemistry.
During sixteen years at Villanova, Father assisted faithfully in the parish of Saint Henry in Bayonne, New Jersey. He had a great love for the opera and often used his visits to the New York area to attend the Saturday afternoon performances at the Metropolitan Opera.Father Paquette died on Monday, April, 29, 1968, at Fairmont Farms Hospital in Philadelphia of an embolism. Prior Provincial, Father James Sherman, was principal celebrant of the Funeral Mass that was celebrated in Saint Mary’s Hall Collegiate Seminary Chapel, Villanova, on Thursday, May 2, 1968. Interment was in Saint Mary’s Hall Cemetery. His remains were later transferred to Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pa.
