Rev. J. Barry Furey, Pastor 1998 to 2011

Father Furey is a native of Trenton, New Jersy. He did his early schooling at Immaculate Heart Grammar School in Baltimore, Maryland, and St. Paul's Grammar School in Ramsey, New Jersey. He attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in South Orange, New Jersey. He studied at Seton Hall Divinity School in South Orange and is an alumnus of Saint Francis Seminary in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where he received a Masters of Divinity degree.

Fr. Furey was ordained by the late Bishop Walter Curtis at Saint Augustine Cathedral on May 15, 1971.

After ordination, Fr. Furey served several parishes as Parochial Vicar, including: St. Catherine Church in Trumbull, St. Joseph Church in Brookfield, Sacred Heart Church in Stamford, and St. Jerome Church in Norwalk. In addition, Fr. Furey served as Administrator at St. Joseph Church in Brookfield, Our Lady of Fatima Church in Wilton, and also briefly in Norwalk. Fr. Furey was appointed Pastor of St. Andrew Church in Bridgeport in July of 1989 by Bishop Edward Egan. While at St. Andrew Church, Fr. Furey served as Fire Department Chaplain and for 5 1/2 years as Pastor and President of the Bridgeport Catholic Elementary School System. He served as a member of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council, as a diocesan consultor from 1981 to 1983.

Fr. Furey became the second Pastor of St. Thomas More Church on January 2, 1998. Fr. Furey could often be seen on the church grounds with his faithful dog.

Fr. Furey was installed in the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in September of 2000. Fr. Furey served as a member of the Clergy Personnel Committee from 2002 to 2007. He served on the Clergy Steering Committee for the Bishop's Appeal, and Pastor President of the Stamford Regional School System.

Fr. Furey sometimes accompanied his sermon with a song. "I was a Senior in College in the Seminary in the fall of 1966," says Fr. Furey. "I took ill in September and a cold went into a bad case of pneumonia. I almost died and was in the hospital for a month and then home for two and a half months for rest. When I realized how close I had come to death, I started to write the words which became a song Thank You Lord."

Thank you lord for loving me. Thank you Lord for my eyes that see. Thank you for all the things You've done. Thank you Lord for everyone. Thank you for the birds that sing your sweet song. Thank you for your love that conquers over wrong. And for all the times I was too blind to see, that your love was coming after me.

Thank you for the friendly smiles that come my way. Thank you for the cheerful words that people say. And in hours when I am feeling blue, It's then I know your love will always see me through. And for all the people gathered here today, as we've lifted up our voices joined to pray. That we all realize the dignity that lies within our brotherhood to Thee.