By Tom Maguire
Associate editor
A while back, COVID-19 affected his ability to taste and smell, but nothing diminished the bushelful of good work he did, starting in the sixth grade every night after school.
Remembered as a humble, gentle spirit with an amazing intellect, which included a facility for remembering names, Msgr. Eugene M. Yennock died June 6 at the age of 97 at Crouse hospital in Syracuse.
Willing to help with the housework, he also helped with one of the family’s businesses, buying and selling bushel baskets. “You all pitched in and we had four boys and four girls. And we just pitched in for the family,” he told the Sun on May 19 at Francis House in Syracuse.
But he got his studies in and he got his honors. If he had no struggles in his early schooling, he had none in the seminary either, although there were seminarians who “really struggled. … I never had that. I wanted always to be a priest.”
‘Real Padre Pio type’
Msgr. Yennock “was a real Padre Pio type,” said one fan who used to livestream the monsignor’s Masses at St. Daniel’s in Syracuse.
There were rows and rows of clergy members at the monsignor’s funeral Mass on June 12 at St. Daniel’s, the church where he was the pastor from June 15, 1981, until June 30, 2021, during his 73-year priesthood. Rows of chairs had to be set out behind the pews to accommodate the crowd, and people stood in the back of the church too.
Bishop Douglas J. Lucia presided, and the principal concelebrants were Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Cunningham, Father Thomas Ward, Father Edmund Castronovo and Father John DeLorenzo. The congregation included Msgr. Yennock’s 101-year-old sister, Norma Yennock, and his 90-year-old sister, Sister Margaret Therese Yennock of the Franciscan Sisters, who along with Nancy Iannolo, RN, conducted the Placing of Christian Symbols at the Mass.
Homilist Father Christopher Celentano, who still has the chalice given to him by Msgr. Yennock, explained how the monsignor exemplified the Scriptures. Father Celentano said the priest who believes what Jesus said would go out in the neighborhood, “would go to the houses of those who weren’t Catholic or perhaps fallen away, those who wouldn’t respond to letters or phone calls, would knock on the doors. He would serve the poor boldly,” with charity and with kindness. “He would wake at any hour when the flock was in need of something. …
“He would stand with conviction in the public square, even when it meant he was the only one wearing the collar there.” The priest who believes Jesus’ words, the homilist said, “would speak the truth from the pulpit, would speak to the current times, not shying away. … He would offer countless hours of confession for those who were moved in their hearts by the preaching of the Word of God. …
“He would protest the greatest evil of our time in front of Planned Parenthood, time and time again. … He would emanate a holy vigilance, always aware of what was or who else was pressing in on the people of God trying to steal their souls.”
Father Christopher Celentano, the homilist at the funeral Mass at St. Daniel’s, said Msgr. Eugene M. Yennock spent “his last months on earth welcoming so many people to pray with him by his bedside.” (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
‘Thoughtful, humble’
In her words of remembrance, Msgr. Yennock’s niece Maria Scaravillo, of Syracuse, repeated the words that her cousin had used in a toast at the monsignor’s 97th birthday party: “Great hugger, wonderful sense of humor, twinkly eyes and a hearty laugh, lover of history, compassionate, loving, intelligent, kind, leader, thoughtful, humble.”
Scaravillo added that “Uncle Gene” was a lifelong learner who “celebrated with us during the joyous times and during the trying times he held our hands and soothed our soul. He blessed us his nieces and nephews and grandnieces and nephews as we entered the world and asked God and his angels to accompany our family members safely to heaven when it was their time to leave this world.”
Scaravillo’s words about her uncle were very beautiful, said Bishop Lucia, who came to know the monsignor after he arrived in Syracuse to be the bishop four years ago: “Monsignor Yennock was a legend when I came here. And I knew Msgr. Yennock had worked long and hard here at St. Daniel’s in particular. … In the four years I’ve been here, he went from being Msgr. Yennock to Gene; and Gene in the sense that he really, for me, became one who was a friend. … I was very touched by his many ways he would reach out to me.”
Just as Scaravillo did, Bishop Lucia expressed gratitude to Nurse Iannolo, who was Msgr. Yennock’s caretaker for about 3½ years. When the monsignor got out of the hospital when he had COVID, Nurse Iannolo said, “He called me, he says, ‘Nancy, I hear you want to be my nurse.’ And I could say nothing else but Absolutely.” She was looking after him the night before he died, and he died in the morning “without any discomfort,” she said.
“I did not want him to die alone,” she said, “after all he’s done for everybody else. He has done so much for everybody.”
Three women shown at Msgr. Eugene M. Yennock’s casket are, from left, one of his sisters, Sister Margaret Therese Yennock of the Franciscan Sisters, of Boston, Mass.; Nancy Iannolo, RN, who was the monsignor’s caretaker; and his sister Norma Yennock, of Syracuse. (Sun photo | Chuck Wainwright)
‘Oh, my honor’
It was her honor to hold him in his last moments. “Oh, my honor,” she said. “Honor and glory and praise to God.”
Msgr. Yennock had been living at The Nottingham in Jamesville, where Msgr. J. Robert Yeazel used to have dinner with him. “He was a man of faith, not afraid to stand up for what the Church believes in, and brought many people closer to the Lord because he stood for the truth of our faith,” Msgr. Yeazel said.
Another friend of the monsignor’s, concelebrant Father Ward, the pastor of St. Daniel’s, said, “I miss him terribly. … We would have dinner every Saturday night and lunch often. … He was an amazing conversationist and he had an amazing intellect that was strong right up until the end.”
Editor’s note: In the July 6 issue of the Sun, read more comments about the immensely successful ministry of the late Msgr. Eugene M. Yennock. Commenting will be family members; several priests who were ordained because of him; a deacon who admired him; lay people who knew and loved him; and Msgr. Yennock himself in a chat with Sun staffers 18 days before he died.
