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Thomas F. 'Tom' Carten Wilkes-barre, PA QCWA # 21157 Chapter 68 |
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A priest whose voice was familiar to thousands of radio listeners in Luzerne County and whose newspaper columns resonated with readers there for decades died on Christmas Eve.
The Rev. Thomas Carten, CSC, died on Dec. 24 at Holy Cross House, an infirmary at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, according to the Rev. Thomas Looney, director of Campus Ministry at King's College in Wilkes-Barre.
Carten was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce, a Catholic congregation of missionary priests and brothers founded in 1837 in Le Mans, France. King's College was founded in 1946 by Congregation of Holy Cross priests and brothers from the University of Notre Dame.
"I lived and worked with him here at King's for over a dozen years," Looney said. "Father Tom Carten was a multi-talented and compassionate priest. His ministry to the students, faculty and staff at King's College and in the local community was marked by these gifts."
Looney said Carten reached out to people whowere struggling and made them feel wanted and at home in his presence.
"I imagine his secret in making people feel at home was that he was always himself. He never pretended to me someone or something he was not. He knew he could be a bit eccentric. How many people do you know who only wore red socks? He knew that his opinions sometimes unnerved people. But that did not stop him from becoming an early blogger and sharing his views and style of humor," Looney said.
Looney said Carten's talent for communication was evident in the intriguing homilies delivered at King's, asa member of the college Campus Ministry team, and throughout the Wyoming Valley. "When Tom preached, he took you on a journey, ending with a punchline or a challenge that really made you think about your life," hesaid.
Carten's communication skills also were evident in his newspaper columns that explored and shared his love for music and the arts, Looney said.
"Although he published these articles under another name, the combination of wit and wisdom in these articles pointed directly to Father Tom and his style. And maybe, most of all, his talent asa communicator was manifest in the soothing tone with which he read the newspaper on the Radio Home Visitor to tens of thousands of listeners over the years," Looney said.
Sue Henry, general manager of WRKC radio at King's College, recalled Carten as "a humble man who absolutely loved radio" and a "loving kind and wonderful soul. It's a great loss to us. He helped so many people."
Carten founded the hour-long Radio Home Visitor show at WRKC to serve the blind, visually impaired and homebound asa student at King's when he was still a brother and not yet an ordained priest, Henry said. He, other students and volunteers would read news and obituaries from local newspapers on the air because Carten believed that community was underserved.
"It began as a student project. He didn't know if it would last a semester. It lasted since 1974," and it's still on the air, Henry said.
Carten was a 33-year-old senior at King'sCollege when he read a newspaper article about news broadcasts aimed at blind and homebound listeners.
Image and Article Credits: 2nd Section, by Steve Mocarsky, The Citizens' Voice via https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/father-carten-beloved-priest-radio-host-writer-dies-at-78/article_62851b08-27b3-5109-9180-f0404601ac7b.html
Article Credit: Below, by Legacy via Thomas Carten Obituary - Easton, MA | Citizens Voice (legacy.com)
Memorial contributions in support of the mission and ministries of theCongregation of Holy Cross can be made to: United States Province of Priestsand Brothers, Office of Development, 500 Washington St., North Easton, MA02356-1299, or online at donate.holycrossusa.org.
When I wrote an article for the Journal about QCWA's reading service (q.v. Aug 2017, pg 5), I contacted Lucinda at Handiham, as well as Fr. Tom, to get some history.
As the article mentions, Fr. Tom started recording the QCWA Journal in the late80's (to his best recollection), and did so for the next 15 years. After his retirement, Handiham took over, and Bob Zeida (N1BLF) recorded it for a while (Bob still records QST summaries for Handiham).
When Bob indicated that he would like to lighten his load, you started looking around for a replacement with a mention in your monthly column. I volunteered, and started recording with the Winter 2012 issue, the last quarterly issue before going monthly.
Jim Perry KJ3P
From qrz.com
My first call was KN1PZU in 1960 as a Novice Class license.
I graduated from King's College in 1975 with a degree in English and from the University of Notre Dame in 1978 with a Master's degree in Theology. My day job is Alumni Chaplain at King's College (I am a Catholic Priest, second career after being in radio -- see below).
I belong to QCWA and ARRL (Life Member) and I Hold an FCC First-Class Radiotelephone License (before they dumbed it down) and an Amateur Extra Class
I use to operate CW all the time but, I am currently inactive due to health problems. I use my spare time voicing the QCWA Journal and WorldRadio for the blind when able.
I am Currently an Adjunct Associate Professor of Speech at King's College in Wilkes-Barre PA. I have been in radio broadcasting and print media since about 1958. Am founder and manager of the nation's oldest (nearly 30 years) daily broadcast for the blind, "The Radio Home Visitor," operating 365 days per year on the main channel of WRKC-FM providing news and information for the visually impaired, homebound and elderly of Northeastern Pennsylvania continuously since September 2, 1974. I'm also a Braille transcriber but, fortunately, computer technology is putting us out of business. It's real easy now for people to type in plain English and run it thru a Braille program to turn it into the highly contracted and abbreviated Grade Two Braille, or to have blind people use a screen reader. All this sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is. As an adjunct, I teach one or two sections a semester.
73, Tom K1PZU