Former Glyndon pastor who ministered to those with addiction dies at 83

Father David Carey, former pastor of Sacred Heart in Glyndon and minister to those suffering from addiction, died Nov. 2. He was 83.

Born in Pennsylvania, Father Carey was baptized at St. Thomas Aquinas in Archibald, Pa. He attended the parish school and then Archibald High School.

After attending the University of Scranton for two years, he transferred to St. Mary’s College on Paca Street in Baltimore. After his graduation in 1957, he taught at a secondary school in New Jersey before entering St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park.

He was ordained a priest in 1962 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland by Cardinal Lawrence J. Shehan.

Father Carey served as associate pastor of St. Luke in Edgemere, 1962-68; St. Thomas More in Baltimore, 1968-69; and St. William of York in Baltimore, 1969-72.

Father Carey was assigned to the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Spring Grove Hospital in 1972, the same year he was appointed chaplain for Villa Maria in Towson.

In 1973, he was appointed associate pastor of Sacred Heart in Glyndon, where he became pastor in 1980.

In 1987, Father Carey was granted permission to study alcohol counseling at Rutgers University. He returned to the archdiocese in 1988 as chaplain of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and to work with recovering addicts at the Father Martin-Ashley Addiction Center, where he worked until his retirement in 2003.

Sulpician Father Joseph C. Martin, founder of the Father Martin-Ashley Addiction Center, counseled Father Carey regarding alcohol addiction, and the latter became committed to his own sobriety. Father Carey was known for celebrating Mass twice a week at the Father Martin-Ashley Addiction Center and for his genuine interactions with the patients, staff and the Alcoholics Anonymous community.

“He was at my home parish, St. William of York, when I was in seminary and when I was ordained,” said Father Michael Roach, pastor of St. Bartholomew in Manchester. “He was always kindness itself, funny and caring. I always thought the world of him. Father Joe Martin used to assist on weekends there (at St. William of York); perhaps that’s where their link began. He will be missed by so many.”

Bishop Denis J. Madden offered a funeral Mass for Father Carey Nov. 7 at Villa Assumpta in Baltimore.

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