Fr. Hilary Milton

SALEM - Rev. Hilary Milton, O.Carm., age 89, died on October 19, 2025, in Salem, Massachusetts. Born to John Milton and Mary E. (Donnelly) Milton, on June 29, 1936, in Melrose, Massachusetts, he was baptized John Joseph Milton at Sacred Heart Church in Malden, Massachusetts on August 23, 1936. He attended St. Clement Elementary School in Somerville, Massachusetts from 1942-1950.

Fr. Hilary entered the Carmelite Junior Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts in 1950. After completion of high school and a year of college studies at Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, he entered the Carmelite Novitiate in New Baltimore, Pennsylvania in 1956, where he took the religious name of Hilary. He professed his simple vows as a Carmelite in New Baltimore on August 22, 1957, and his Solemn Vows at Whitefriars Hall in Washington, DC on August 22, 1960. He was ordained to the priesthood at the La Salette Shrine in Ipswich, Massachusetts on May 25, 1963.

Prior to his priestly ordination, Fr. Hilary had received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from St. Bonaventure University in Olean, New York in 1960.

While studying theology at Whitefriars Hall from 1960-1964, he also studied Spanish at Georgetown University from 1961-1963. He later received a Masters of Arts degree in Pastoral Counseling from St. John's University, Brooklyn, New York, in 1974, and Master of Divinity Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1976.

Fr. Hilary was on the Faculty of DeSales High School in Louisville, Kentucky from 1964-1965. For the next four years, 1965-1969, Fr. Hilary was stationed in Lima, Peru, serving on the high school faculty of Nuestra Señora del Carmen High School and serving in Nuestra Señora del Carmen Parish in Miraflores, Lima. Fr. Hilary also returned to Lima, 1971-1972, as Associate Pastor at the Miraflores parish.

Fr. Hilary served in numerous Carmelite parishes in New Jersey for the fifty year period of 1969-2019. This included positions as Associate Pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Bogota, 1969-1970, St. John Parish, Leonia, 1970-1971, St. Anastasia Parish, Teaneck, 1972-1975, in Team Ministry at St. John Parish in Leonia, 1975-1978, Pastor of St. John Parish, Leonia, from 1978-1984, Pastor at St. Joseph Parish Demarest, 1984-1990, Pastor of St. Anastasia Parish, Teaneck, from 1990-2002, Parochial Vicar at St. Cecilia Parish, Englewood, 2002-2008, and Pastor at St. Cecilia Parish, Englewood, 2008-2019. In addition to his parish work, Fr. Hilary also served as the Director of Mount Carmel Cemetery in Tenafly, New Jersey from 1994 to 2001.

Fr. Hilary retired to the St. Cecilia Priory in Englewood, New Jersey in 2019, and since 2024 resided with his twin sister, Mary Milton, in Salem, Massachusetts.

He is survived by his sister, Mary Milton, and his Carmelite brothers of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.

May Fr. Hilary rest in the peace of Christ, whom he served so faithfully with the Carmelite community for 75 years.

ARRANGEMENTS: Friends and relatives are invited to a visitation at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, 1 Margin St., Salem on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 9:30 AM, followed by the Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM. The internment will follow at St. Mary Cemetery, 226 North St, Salem. Assisting the family is O'Donnell Cremations – Funerals – Celebrations, 84 Washington Sq, SALEM. Memorials in honor of Fr. Hilary can be made to the Society of Mount Carmel, 1317 North Frontage Road, Darien, Illinois 60561. To share a memory or offer a condolence please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com.