Our Walter, Rest in Peace

Walter was well loved and the Traditional Latin Mass Community here in NY will sorely miss his presence.

Eternal Rest . . .

I learned today from Valeria Kondratiev that Walter Phelan has passed to God. I can not express how much I will miss this dear friend and confidant whose kindness and gentle ways touched my heart. I have many, many fond memories of riding the L line back to Brooklyn (he didn’t think a young lady should travel unaccompanied back to my apartment in Williamsburg of all places–after all taxis didn’t want to go there just some 5 years ago!), and listening to his wise words and classic expressions that seem to go hand-in-hand with true New Yorkers. He was a fearless soldier for Christ: he fought against closing the Armenian church downtown, and he was never concerned about what anyone thought of him as he distributed bread that he collected from bakerys week after week. The outside of St. Agnes after the 11 am mass will never be the same. I had many a baguette to munch on after mass thanks to Walter!

I offer my prayers for you dear Walter…and I will never regret those “little reprimanding taps” I distributed to you during the Callaghan tea, which were aimed to rein in your Irish wit, but only amplified it!

Walter was a staunch defender of the faith and I am sure he has gone on to his eternal reward. May he continue to help this poor maid from up above. God bless you, Walter and thank you for being such a gentle soul. You will be missed by many, many people. Fondly in Christ Jesus, Jennifer Roche

P.S. I would like to thank Andrew for posting such a meaningful memorial to such a memorable man, Walter Phelan, on this very impressive site.

I am sorry for your friend’s passing and for your loss of his company; his is a better world beyond ours and I hope his friends and family are able to find comfort from their memories of him.

Your brief comments were kind and generous, and a few simple phrases gave your friend Walter Phelan an epitaph that few among us will own: “Walter was a good man, with a heart of gold…”, and “Earnest in his desire for the salvation of souls and their eternal repose…”.

It is precisely those two characteristics that trouble me at this stage of my journey, and have made for many sleepless nights along the way. I have long struggled with being a good enough man–there is not time to attempt to undo the things I ‘ought not to have done’, and hurtful words and deeds continue to to string along behind me like so many tin cans tied a cat’s tail–and I am certain that I have far too much self-centered interest in my own welfare to share much with my fellow man, despite my prayers to the contrary.

So your note prompted a well-aged nugget. What will be written of any of us, and is it ever too late to make a significant difference in anyone else’s life? My grandfathers were both excellent examples of the sort of character that your friend Walter must have been and I can take some comfort from using them as role models. But in my advanced and childless age most every charitable act rings of a hollow self-serving facade, not at all like your description of your late friend.

Living is one thing, but living with a purpose is quite another. Thank you for your posting and for prompting the thoughts on my continuing journey.

Dan Patterson

There was a Tridentine Mass last night for the repose of Walter’s soul, at St. Vincent de Paul Church on West 23rd Street. The pastor of this recently suttered, and about to be demolished, gem of a Manhattan mentioned Walter’s constant help as an usher at weekday Masses. Fr. Murray also mentioned Walter as a frequent source of flowers and–yes–bread.
Jennifer, I tried to carry on your tradition of giving Walter “little repremanding taps” after you moved away a year ago. But no one, and ceratinly not yours truly, could pull it off as well as you did, even when a tap was preceded with “Jennifer would do this if she was here now.” We will try to carry on with as many of Walter’s traditions as possible, as we did withy some of yours.
Dan, take heart! Walter never had the trill of children, though he often cared for godsons as if they were his own. And he often found himself stretching to follow role models in his family. I am sure that in God’s eyes your acts of charity are seen in their true light, even if they seem at time to ring hollow in your more critical eyes.

Walter rarely talked about himself but over time as I got to know him every assumption I might have had at first was knocked down as I would catch some small detail about his time in France studying the culinary arts, his legal work for the city, or his Latin tutoring among so many other things. He was so unassuming!
Most of all I’ll remember him for his strong Faith. He was a good man and I’ll miss seeing him up at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Agnes.
Thanks for the posting Andrew.

Walter John Phelan Jr.
January 24th, 2007

In the arms of his loved ones
Rebecca and Joseph,
Walter John Phelan Jr. passes
From this world into
His eternal resting place.
Far above the cold night air
The smog filled clouds
And the noisy street traffic
He will rest in a perfect peace.
A staunch Roman Catholic of Irish
Descent, ETERNAL LIFE is granted.
The water is sweeter here.
The food is less fatty.
There are no problems to solve.
There are no chores to do, but there
Are many labors of love to perform:
He will sit upon a purple-velvet throne
Like a king, and he will watch over Rebecca,
Alan, Joseph, and Steven, his devoted,
Loyal, and true-blue friends of 36 years.
The view is better from here: SHALOM.

By Sharon Esther Lampert, Creative Genius
http://www.poetryjewels.com