Obituary of Fr. Dominic B. DeBlase

Fr. Dominic B. DeBlase, SDB, 89, joined the Lord on February 27, 2016. He was a Catholic priest with the Salesian of Don Bosco for more than 55 years. Born in Liberty, N.Y., on September 21, 1926, to Bartolo and Josephine DeBlase, he was a member of St. Peter's Parish, graduated from Liberty High School in 1943 and enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He served in the Navy from 1945 through 1946, after which he returned to Rensselaer, earning a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree in June 1948. He remained in the Naval Reserve until he was discharged in 1950 to enter Don Bosco College Seminary in Newton, N.J.. He professed his vows as a Salesian of Don Bosco on Sept. 8, 1952 and earned a B.A. in philosophy from Don Bosco College in Newton in 1954. He remained at Don Bosco College in 1954-1957, teaching and assisting in the seminary program. He earned an M.S. in physics from Fordham University in 1956. He embarked to Turin, Italy, in 1957 to study theology at the Pontifical Ateneo Salesiano, earning a licentiate. He was ordained in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin on February 11, 1961. Fr. DeBlase returned to Don Bosco College after ordination to teach math and the sciences. He was the dean of men (1963-1965) and dean of the Sons of Mary (1965-1966). The academic dean described him as "a very hard-working professor … who demanded as much diligence from his students" and "won the respect and admiration of his students not only for his intelligence and scholarship, but for his ability to communicate this knowledge as well"; he was also credited "capable leadership" and "successful development" in the physics and math departments. In 1966 Fr. DeBlase was appointed director of Don Bosco Juniorate in Haverstraw, N.Y., but didn't complete his term before being reassigned as director of Don Bosco Technical High School in Paterson, N.J., in 1968. Four years later he went to Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, La., to teach math and the sciences, but that ministry was cut short when he was named province treasurer and director of the provincial residence at New Rochelle in 1973. Fr. DeBlase served in those positions in New Rochelle with such distinction that in 1979 he was appointed provincial. As provincial, he was responsible for 320 men serving at 22 locations in the eastern part of the U.S.A. and Canada. Upon completion of his term as provincial in 1985, Fr. DeBlase went to Don Bosco Technical High School in Boston as treasurer. In 1989 he was appointed director again, this time at Mary Help of Christians School in Tampa. In 1991 he volunteered for the Salesian mission in Africa at Lungi, Sierra Leone, where he was treasurer for two years and then director from 1993 to 2005. He was greatly appreciated there by both his confreres and the people of the Salesians' schools and parish. Returning to the States, from 2005 through 2011, Fr. DeBlase served as assistant pastor and community treasurer at Nativity Parish in Washington, D.C. From 2011 until June 2015, he served at the provincial residence in New Rochelle and the Marian Shrine in Stony Point, N.Y. During the past two years, he experienced a loss of memory and moved into the Cabrini Residence in Dobbs Ferry in June 2015. Celebrating his 50th anniversary of religious profession in 2012, Fr. DeBlase remarked very simply, "I thoroughly enjoy my priesthood and service to Don Bosco and my Salesian Family." Fr. DeBlase is survived by several nieces and nephews. A wake will be held at Salesian High School on Friday, March 4 beginning at 3:00 p.m. with a prayer service at 4:45 p.m, and a Mass of Christian Burial at 7:00 p.m. Internment will take place on Saturday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m., at the Salesian Cemetery, 3 Craigville Road, Goshen, NY 10924. In lieu of flowers to : Salesian Society, Inc. PO Box 639 New Rochelle, NY 10802-0639