30 Oct 1925 – 12 Sep 2008

Joe Grealy’s preparation for the priesthood went far beyond his years at St Francis Xavier Seminary, Magill and St Patrick’s College, Manly.

His time as a boiler-maker with the Railways and his title as the Walking Champion of South Australia stood him in good stead as an Industrial Chaplain who was always on the go.

Joe moved easily among the people in the urban and rural parishes where he pastored, the workers in the factories and the officials at Trades Hall, politicians and the residents at Plater College, Oxford, where he gained a Diploma in Social Studies. He was at home in all these worlds.

Many trade union officials and politicians sought the ministrations of Joe for family baptisms, marriages and funerals. This was also true of his nieces and nephews and wider family.

To many people on the fringe of the institutional Church, Joe was the very compassionate and understanding face of Catholicism.

Joe was one of the initial members of the Young Christian Workers movement founded in St Raphael’s Parish, Parkside, in the 1940s. The Cardijn method of seeing, judging and acting in applying Gospel principles in society was an essential aspect of Joe’s priesthood.

An invalid in his last few years, Joe acted as chaplain at Villa St Hilarion, Fulham, where he resided.