Family and friends are mourning the death of Monsignor Thomas James Owens, pastor emeritus of Saint Alphonsus Catholic Church in Maple Glen, Montgomery County. He died unexpectedly Nov. 3. He was 71.

Msgr. Owens spent his life as a powerful force for good. He was born in Philadelphia Nov. 16, 1948, the first of five children of Thomas and Genevieve Owens.

Msgr. Owens had fond memories of urban life in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, where a tight family budget did not prevent him from finding joy in his family, friends and siblings. He was a curious, driven boy who spent much of his waking hours observing the world around him, a habit he never relinquished.

He worked hard in school, but also loved to play, having taken part in just about every form of urban street ball there was back then – stick ball, step ball, box ball, hose ball, half ball, wire ball, and touch football.

After graduating from St. Thomas More High School in 1966, a Golden Bear forever more, he entered St. Joseph’s College on City Avenue. He spent three years there, where his search for meaning took a life-changing turn. It was a time of great turmoil in a country that was waging an unpopular war in Vietnam, and facing civil and racial unrest at home.

That’s when he had a conversion experience during a conversation with a priest about the meaning of life. At one point, the priest described his own calling in life by quoting Saint Irenaeus. The first century bishop wrote that “the glory of God is man fully alive.” It struck Tom that he witnessed the fruits of such a life in several priests he knew. To him, they seemed to possess a joy that had little to do with concern about themselves and much to do with helping others find God.

Once he decided to enter Saint Charles Seminary in Overbrook after his junior year in college, he never looked back. He was ordained a priest in May 1974, and in the next 16 years was stationed as an assistant pastor/parochial vicar at Catholic parishes in Lansdale, Warrington, Plymouth Meeting and Upper Darby.

Part of his work involved visiting the sick at hospitals and helping people endure the pain of a loved one’s death – very typical work for a priest. There was the time early in his priesthood, when a man in his 70s who had a bad heart died while playing golf. His body was on a gurney in the hospital when Tom arrived. The man was still in his golf shoes. The wife looked at Tom and said, “It was the way he wanted to go out, Father. On the golf course.”

Then there was the time he went to the hospital to bless the body of a young boy who was killed in an accident. He described the searing pain the parents suffered over their child’s death. When asked what he did to help them, he said, “I sat with them. I listened to them. I prayed with them.”

Much of his first 16 years of priesthood were marked by his bringing the sacraments to his parishioners – through visits to the sick, burying the dead, comforting those in mourning, and rejoicing with those who were getting married, baptized, confirmed, and receiving the Eucharist.

He then spent 12 years at Saint Charles Seminary, first as a director of field education, then as the dean of formation. At Creighton University, he earned a master’s degree in Catholic Spirituality to go along with his master’s degree in theology. He also served for 10 years as the only priest on the archdiocesan board reviewing clergy abuse cases, working to help the church through its most difficult time in generations.

But what he wanted most was to be a pastor. He felt that a pastor was in the best position to help people in the parish get close to Jesus. That dream was fulfilled when he was appointed pastor of Saint Alphonsus Parish. While there he oversaw the renovation of the church and school and the difficult, thankless task of combining the school with that of a neighboring parish.

During his time at Saint Alphonsus he contracted Multiple Sclerosis, which forced him into retirement in 2013.

But he continued working as a priest at St. Matthew’s Church in Conshohocken – saying Mass, hearing confessions, officiating at weddings and funerals, running a book club, and instructing converts -- right up to his death.

He was famous for his thoughtful, moving homilies. One of his last homilies was at the funeral of the father of one of his brothers-in-law. In the homily he described holiness – essentially summing up what he thought Saint Irenaeus meant when he wrote about “man fully alive.”

The Owens family had bought an air conditioner for their father who was very sick at the time, he said. Then they realized they couldn’t plug in the unit, because the house didn’t have a 220 line. Tom said the man they were burying that day – Joseph Miceli – found out about the problem, and with a friend of his who was an electrician – quietly, without any fanfare, put in the line. “That’s what it means to be holy,” Tom said.

His oldest niece, Gena, recently described the mark she believes her uncle left on the world. When she was in college Gena told her uncle that she questioned being a Catholic. She writes, “He said if I find another religion that I like better, that’s OK. If I decide that I don’t want to be attached to a certain religion, that’s OK, too. But he told me why he is a Catholic.

“He’s been a shining example that all my California friends and coworkers have to hear about if they try to stereotype a Catholic priest. He represented to me what a true Catholic priest is: a wise theologian, an open-minded academic, a loving uncle who was also a close friend and mentor.

“I know losing Uncle Tom leaves a big gap in our family, but I intend to look at the gap, think about it, and fill it with the wisdom and kind, tolerant, accepting thoughts that he helped instill in me and all of us who were lucky enough to be close to him.”

Msgr. Owens is survived by his sisters, Genevieve Miceli (Alan), Judith Owens and Cecilia Bowers (Timothy), his brother Joseph (Kristy), 11 nieces and nephews and nine grandnieces and nephews.

A parish Mass will be Sunday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. after a viewing from 5:30-7 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, Nov. 9, at Saint Matthew’s Church, 219 Fayette Street, Conshohocken, Pa., at 10:30 a.m., after a viewing from 9-10:30. Archbishop Nelson Perez will be the main celebrant. In lieu of flowers, friends of Msgr. Owens are encouraged to make a donation to St. Matthew’s Church.