Mt. Pleasant priest succumbs after battle with covid, remembered for strong faith, devotion

Colleagues and parishioners in the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg are mourning and remembering the Rev. Thomas A. Federline of Mt. Pleasant, known for his strong faith and singing voice.

Father Federline, 72, who was pastor of St. Pius X and Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parishes in Mount Pleasant, died Monday at UPMC McKeesport hospital of “serious aftereffects” of a covid-19 infection, according to the diocese.

The diocese announced his covid diagnosis in late September. He was weaned off a ventilator and was improving but then caught pneumonia and was back on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, said his brother, David, of Murrysville.

“During the pandemic, he said, ‘Don’t live in fear, live in a state of grace,’” David Federline recalled. He said his brother was hopeful of recovery but “was ready to go if that was what God was calling him to. He knew this wasn’t the final stop, there was something greater.”

Federline moved to Mt. Pleasant in July 2020, after serving as pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Indiana.

“Even though he could have retired at the age of 70, Father Federline received a new assignment graciously, which I believe is a model of his priestly dedication and service,” said Larry J. Kulick, bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg.

Federline “was a good pastor. He took that role very seriously,” said the Rev. Richard J. Kosisko, who preceded Federline in Mt. Pleasant before moving to his current post, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Latrobe.

Kosisko, whose family and Federline’s have been friends, said his fellow pastor was close to his parents, the late James and Alice Federline, and was influenced by them in his choice of vocation. “They were people of great faith and just delightful,” said Kosisko.

Federline had a strong devotion to prayer, the Blessed Mother and the rosary. When he couldn’t view the EWTN Global Catholic Network on the hospital’s cable system, he asked for tapes and CDs so he could listen to the rosary and prayers, according to the Rev. Paul A. Lisik, administrator pro-tem of the Mt. Pleasant parishes.

Federline was director of ecumenism for the diocese. Lisik noted he was “very interested in the different aspects of a parish, but was hampered in getting to know a lot of people by the pandemic.”

Sheryl Nagy, director of liturgical music for the Mt. Pleasant parishes, expressed regret that Federline didn’t get to hear the parish choir sing because of the pandemic.

“He was always so kind, appreciative, grateful and thankful for what I did,” Nagy said. An avid reader, he gave her a book about choirs and hymns he’d picked up for her while attending a conference.

Federline “could sing loudly and enthusiastically,” said the Rev. Anthony Onoko, who worked with Federline as parochial vicar for nearly a year. “His voice could be heard in all corners of the church.”

A native of Baltimore, Federline attended school in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and later was a parishioner of Mother of Sorrows Parish, Murrysville.

He worked in his family’s real estate business before being called to the priesthood. He earned a master of divinity degree at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, in Emmitsburg, Md. and was ordained a priest in 1985 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 18 at Hart Funeral Home in Murrysville. On Nov. 19, there will be a viewing from 9:30 a.m. until an 11 a.m. funeral Mass at Mother of Sorrows in Murrysville. Interment will be in Greensburg Catholic Cemetery, Hempfield.