NORRISTOWN — The Rev. Augustus C. Puleo, a native of Norristown and beloved former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown, died Wednesday, a loss that will be felt much farther than the boundary lines of Norristown. His life made an impact on his community, his students, his parish and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Father Gus, as he was affectionately known, was ordained in 2005 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2005. Prior to his ordination Father Gus was an educator and worked as a professor of Spanish at Columbia University in New York City.
As a regular columnist for The Times Herald and its MediaNews Group sister papers, Father Gus was prolific both in the written word, and in the spoken word. His columns — the last one published today — were educational and enlightening, informing his readers about saints, feasts days and the power of prayer.
His “tagline,” biographical paragraph that ran at the end of his columns, was almost as long as some of his articles. It read:
“The Rev. Gus Puleo serves as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program and the Spanish Department at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he also teaches English and Spanish. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown.”
When delivering his homilies, Father Gus often relied on his “Norristown roots” and his professed dislike of Hallmark movies to engage all those seated in the pews. He could be a powerful speaker at times, delivering his message with a thunderous voice. And he could be a comedian, using self-deprecating humor to drive home a message from the Gospel. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, and a very real connection to St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa).
While he was an impactful educator at the high school, college or seminary levels, Father Gus was recognized mostly for his work at his beloved St. Patrick parish. He celebrated countless weddings and baptisms and quinceañeras. He established health screenings for the community’s uninsured; he set up a health program that trained women parishioners for a year in basic nursing techniques; he created educational programs for SAT preparation, ESL and adult education.
Father Gus worked tirelessly for his parishioners, and his devotion to them, both English speaking and Spanish speaking, was undeniable. His greatest gift to his parishioners was, arguably, the preservation of their parish.
When costly structural issues threatened to close St. Patrick Church, Father Gus, almost single-handedly — and in less than a year — raised the needed $1.67 million for the repairs. A few months after the church reopened in November 2022, Father Gus announced his retirement as a pastor and took on the role of full-time educator at the seminary.
He continued to celebrate Mass at St. Pat’s every weekend, alternating between English and Spanish masses. And after every Mass, parishioners lined up to talk to their beloved pastor.
Arrangements for the funeral Mass of the Rev. Gus Puleo are being handled by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and information is still pending.
