In top photo, Father John Wake died Sept. 11. His funeral services will be held Sept. 18.
Father John F. Wake, a priest of the Diocese for 52 years, died Sept. 11. He was 79.
Funeral services will be held Sept. 18 in St. Pius X Church with visitation from 10:30-11 a.m. and followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30. Burial will be in St. Catharine Cemetery and Mausoleum, Sea Girt.
Born in 1947 and raised in Jersey City, Father Wake attended St. Peter College, Jersey City, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington. He was ordained a priest May 18, 1974, by Bishop George W. Ahr in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
As parochial vicar he served in St. Rose Parish, Belmar, for two years, and St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Old Bridge. He then took a leave of absence from the Diocese to serve as chaplain at the Christian Brothers Retreat House in St. Helena, Calif. He also entered the novitiate of the Salvatorians and worked at the Christian Brothers Spiritual Center in Adamstown, Md.
Upon his return to the Diocese in 1985, he served two years as parochial vicar of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton, and then St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Hightstown. He was also appointed to a two-year term as a priest on the Engaged Encounter team.
In April 1988, Father Wake was named pastor of St. David the King Parish, Princeton Junction, followed by assignments as parochial vicar in St. William the Abbot, Howell; Epiphany, Brick; and St. Ann, Browns Mills. He was named temporary administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Maple Shade, in January 1999 and installed as pastor in September 1999, remaining in that assignment until his appointment as chaplain of Morris Hall and St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center in Lawrenceville on July 2, 2010. He also pursued further studies at the Vatican that year and later retired in 2019.
Father Wake was predeceased by his parents, Eileen and William Wake. He is survived by a sister Ellen (Greg) Brennan, a brother William, three nieces, a nephew, several great-nieces and great-nephews, and many cousins, friends, neighbors and caregivers.