Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Father Thomas Ahern

Father Ahern retires after 42 years' service

Father Thomas Ahern,70, pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga since 1986, retires this month after 10 years at Sacred Heart and a total of 42 years of serving parishes and prisons.

Father Ahern was assigned to San Quentin prison as chaplain from 1961 to 1971.

"He would go even to the places in the prison that weren't nice to visit," said Father Art Harrison, who worked with him at San Quentin.

Jean Dargis, administrator at St. Victor Parish, where Father Ahern was pastor from 1973 to 1986, said, "He is a remarkable priest. He always made himself available to the parish."

Father Ahern listed among the most significant elements of his priesthood "the marvelous, wonderful people" he has met and worked with. "I am amazed at their heroism and generosity," he said.

Father Ahern considered priesthood while a student at St. Ignatious High School in San Francisco. Instead, he joined the U. S. Army reserves and, after completing one semester at Stanford University, he was sent to the Philippines to train for the invasion of Japan.

"My stint in the Army changed my views," he said. He decided he wanted to be a parish priest. His first assignment after ordination in 1954 was to St. Lucy Parish in Campbell, where he served as assistant pastor until 1960.

The realities of being a priest, compared to the expectations of a seminarian, were "much more complex than I ever dreamed of, with all kinds of different experiences," he said. "Sometimes it is going from one crisis to another. I learned a lot about plumbing."

When he retires, Father Ahern hopes to spend more time on the 30-foot sailboat he shares with his brother. He will move into a retirement center for priests at St. Joseph's Church in Cupertino.

"We will miss his gentle spirit," said church secretary Sheila Cole. "He is an extremely kind and holy man."