Father Andrew Gerard MacAulay

 

     Father Andrew Gerard MacAulay, a longtime beloved priest for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, died peacefully on Nov. 6, 2023, at Saint Ann Assisted Living Center in Oklahoma City. He was 94.

     A vigil service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. in the Saint Francis de Sales Chapel at the Catholic Pastoral Center, 7501 Northwest Expressway in Oklahoma City. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Nov. 10, at 10 a.m. at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 3214 N. Lake Ave. in Oklahoma City. A reception will be held following the Mass.

     Father MacAulay was born Nov. 30, 1928, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, to Frank MacAulay and Marguerite MacPhee MacAulay. He had eight brothers – Eugene, Joseph, Peter, Bernard, Stephen and Kenneth (both also priests), Francis and Charles – and two sisters – Mary and Pauline.

     He graduated from Souris High School in Prince Edward Island and earned a bachelor’s degree at Saint Dunstan’s College in Charlottetown. He earned a master’s degree in theology at Saint Thomas Seminary in Denver and was ordained a priest on May 23, 1959, in Charlottetown to serve in the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

     He was assigned to Saint Mary Catholic Church in Ponca City until 1966.

    He also served at Christ the King Catholic Church in Oklahoma City; Saint Peter Catholic Church in Woodward; Saint Philip Neri Catholic Church in Midwest City; Saint Eugene Catholic Church in Oklahoma City; Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Purcell and the mission of Saint John the Baptist in Lexington; Holy Family Catholic Church in Lawton; and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.

     He served on numerous archdiocesan boards and committees, including the Archdiocesan Tribunal, school board for Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School, archdiocesan Board for Seminarians, as Regional Vicar for Region II and Defender of the Bond for Metropolitan Tribunal of First Instance of Oklahoma City.

     He retired in 1999, initially to Florida before returning to Oklahoma where he lived at Saint Ann Retirement Center and the Catholic Pastoral Center in Oklahoma City. He was well-loved, respected and often referred to as a priest other priests should emulate.

     In 2015, Father MacAulay received the Rother Faithful Shephard Award from Archbishop Coakley and fellow priests. The award is given every three years in the spring to a priest in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City who exemplifies Blessed Stanley Rother and his commitment to the priesthood and his people. It is an initiative of the Priests’ Council.

     Father MacAulay made a profound impression on many of his parishioners with one referring to him in an article of the Sooner Catholic as a “good priest leading the souls in his care toward heavenly pasture.” He is remembered for his goodness, holiness and kindness.

     Until the final years of his life, Father MacAulay continued to serve the archdiocese and fellow priests, celebrating Mass at several parishes and at Saint Ann Retirement Center, and briefly serving as administrator of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Okarche.

     He is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Marguerite MacAulay, and siblings Mary, Eugene, Joseph, Peter, Pauline, Bernard, Father Stephen (Diocese of Tulsa), Father Kenneth (Scarboro Foreign Missions), Francis and Charles. He is survived by his many nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Seminarian Fund at archokc.org/seminarianfund.