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Father Tom Killeen, OMI, thought a plane would make it easier to reach remote Catholic residents in Greenland, but two crashes changed his mind
When Fr. Tom Killeen, OMI, looks back at the adventures of his life, he says he knows one thing with absolutely certainty: He was a much better Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate than he
was a pilot.
Father Tom, 91, has lived at St. Henry’s Oblate Residence in Belleville, Illinois, since 2018—a serene and balmy locale compared to the location he experienced on his first assignment shortly after being ordained as a priest for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in August 1958.
Back then, Fr. Tom was assigned to establish a mission in the frozen wilds of Greenland. Three or four times a year, he would find himself in a small boat being tossed by rough seas as he made the journey to eight Catholic families living in one of the most remote areas on the planet.
That’s when Fr. Tom had an idea: Get a pilot’s license and a plane. He did just that, but it didn’t make for easier travels.
“Unfortunately, I crashed that plane,” he said. “Twice.”
A Cold-Weather Oblate
Father Tom’s service as a Missionary Oblate is marked by one common element: Cold.
His path to the priesthood started in eighth grade, while he was living in Independence, Missouri, and working on his uncle’s farm. At the time, he had a major crush on a girl in his grade. But a visit to the class from a Missionary Oblate priest gave him a new perspective on his future.
“The Oblate started talking about missions in the Arctic,” Fr. Tom said. “Just like that I forgot the girl and told my mom I was going to be a priest.”
After his ordination on August 9, 1958, Fr. Tom spent a combined 12 years in Greenland, separated by a stint in the U.S. Army as a chaplain in Vietnam during the most intense parts of the war. His first Greenland mission was from 1961 to 1966 and involved the two plane crashes. The second ran from 1973 to 1980.
Then, at the age of 62 and fresh off a second tour in the military from 1980 to 1994 as a chaplain,
Fr. Tom decided to retire. But in typical Missionary Oblate fashion, Fr. Tom’s retirement has been anything but leisurely.
From 1994 to 2002, he served as pastor of the Catholic Community in the Rocky Mountain town of Leadville, Colorado, which is wedged in between today’s ski resort communities of Breckenridge and Aspen. Then, the Artic came calling for Fr. Tom once again.
Father Tom’s Service as an Oblate has been marked by time in cold-weather locations—Greenland, Colorado, and Alaska
Father Tom Killeen, OMI, accepts the 2017 Citizen of the Year award in Cordova, Alaska, where he served for 16 years
Citizen of the Year
At the age of 70, Fr. Tom was sent to Cordova, Alaska, a tiny fishing village of about 2,000 residents on Prince Williams Sound about 150 miles east of Anchorage. The town is accessible only by air or water, but Father Tom said this didn’t inspire him to attempt the piloting thing again.
Regardless of his mode of transportation, so successful was Fr. Tom’s mission in Cordova and so influential was his presence there, residents honored him as the town’s Citizen of the Year at the 2017 Iceworm Festival.
He was nominated for the honor by Elizabeth Collins, an administrative assistant at Mt. Eccless Elementary School.
“Through good times and bad, (Fr. Tom) has been an anchor for me. He is, and always has been, a constant source of love in my life, as well as a continuous and devoted supporter,” Collins said in her nomination. “Regardless of what you believe or the choices you make in your personal life, he will be there to listen, to offer advice and to reassure you of the wonderful things that this life has to offer.”
Father Tom’s response to winning the award?
“I thought it was nonsense,” he said with a laugh.
Reflections on a Life of Service
Father Tom left Alaska the next year and, at the age of 88, returned to the Lower 48. Today, just shy of his 92nd birthday, he lives among 16 other retired and semi-retired Missionary Oblates in a senior community slightly off Main Street in Belleville, Illinois.
Even now, a stereotypical retirement is far from Fr. Tom’s mind. He assists with Mass at a nearby church at least one day a week and then travels about an hour east every weekend to lead three Masses at two churches in Carlyle, Illinois.
“If I didn’t have that, I’d be bored stiff,” Fr. Tom said with a chuckle.
Father Tom said he deals with the growing restrictions on his physical activity as best he can. When he first arrived at St. Henry’s, he would walk a mile each day. Then it was a half-mile.
Today, those walks have been reduced to brief strolls to the curb outside the building’s entrance.
Father Tom spends more time these days reflecting on his life.
It’s not those cold-weather missions that capture most of his thinking. Rather, it’s the time he spent in Vietnam as a military chaplain. Father Tom served two stints in the Army, first from 1967 to 1973, then again from 1980 to 1994.
Those tours helped him see how the faith can be practiced anywhere. He talks vividly about times in Vietnam when he celebrated Mass in a bunker safe from the constant mortaring of the firing base he was on, how the men sat knee-to-knee and the altar was the earthen floor.
Those memories aren’t traumatic anymore,
he said, and they make him smile as he looks forward to the next step in his journey.
“I’m curious about what God looks like,” he said. “The way I look at it, you just drop off your body and keep right on going.”
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