Reardon, Vincent F.

Vincent F. Reardon (1841-1920), Catholic priest, was born at St. John's, Newfoundland, on 23 October 1841, the son of Jane (Kennedy) and Denis Reardon. He died at Placentia on 24 December 1920 and is buried in Belvedere Cemetery, St. John's.

Reardon completed his primary and elementary education at St. Patrick's Hall School, and his high school education at St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's (1856-60). He studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College, Dublin, (1866-72). Reardon was ordained a priest in St. Joseph's Chapel, Presentation Convent, Cathedral Square, St. John's, on 15 September 1872, by Thomas Joseph Power, Bishop of St. John's.

Rev. Reardon was initially appointed curate in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Parish, where he served for one year (1872-73). Between 1873 and and 1897 he was stationed as parish priest in several parishes: Sacred Heart Parish, St. Bernard's, Fortune Bay (1873-1877); St. Joseph's Parish, Harbour Breton (1877-1878); St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, St. Lawrence (1878-83); St. Patrick's Parish, Burin (1883-88); and Assumption Parish, St. Mary's, St. Mary's Bay (1888-97).

On 8 August 1897 Rev. Reardon became the parish priest of Sacred Heart Parish, Placentia, where he resided until his death in 1920. When peace was proclaimed at the end of World War I, Rev. Reardon became chair of a committee that undertook to raise the first memorial to those who were killed in the war. The monument, located near the front doors of the parish church at Placentia, was unveiled and blessed by Archbishop Edward Patrick Roche in June 1920.

Rev. Reardon was named a Domestic Prelate by Pope Leo XIII in 1902.

Created - May 3, 2013

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