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About Father Lloyd Eugene O'Neill

 

Online* Testiments to a life well lived...

 

Official Obituary - Dartmouth Funeral Home

 

Video - YouTube - Father Reflects on New Evangelization 

 

Article - Truro Daily News - Local Catholics Remember Well-Loved Priest

 

Article - CBC News Nova Scotia - 1000s Remember Father Lloyd O'Neil Police Chaplain

 

Blog - Concerned for Life - Father Lloyd O'Neill

 

*All content copyright individual sources

The Story of his Life...

 

Father Lloyd, second oldest of a family of seven, was born Lloyd Eugene O'Neill in Antigonish in 1939

and he grew up in Mulgrave, Nova Scotia.  His father was employed as stationary engineer with the

CN and his mother, a former teacher, spent her married life caring for her family of seven.

Both parents are remembered as always being there for people in need.  

 

Father Lloyd, a capable student who excelled in Mathematics and Science, attended school in

Mulgrave. Always kind and cheerful, he was very well liked by his classmates and no matter

when or where he was the first to offer help to any of them. A former classmate says she remembers

to this day how he helped her one stormy day as they travelled home from school. Her friend Lloyd

noticed that she, a small girl for her age, was having a difficult time navigating the snow

covered streets.   She will never forget how he, a strong boy, carried her on his back almost half a mile to her home.    

 

Father Lloyd, interested in sports, particularly enjoyed playing baseball.  Like his father Eugene he became an excellent ‘step dancer’ … never one to miss a dance. As high school ended, he knew that if he was to go to university he had to work hard.  The Canso Causeway was opening in 1955 and

his father, with four children almost ready for college, would have to seek new

employment.  The onus was on Father Lloyd to raise money for his tuition.  He cut

pulpwood and worked as a stevedore to finance eight more years of study.  

Fr. Lloyd was no stranger to hard physical labour! 

 

Father Lloyd’s first year at University was spent in taking pre-engineering courses.  He decided

to change to Arts with the intention of preparing to undertake studies for the priesthood.  

He felt a call to serve God and others.  After graduating from St. F.X. and after much thought,

he entered Holy Heart Seminary in Halifax.  He was ordained to the priesthood for the

Antigonish Diocese in 1965 but decided to ask to go on loan to the Archdiocese of Halifax.  

He intended to stay three years.  Seeing the need there he stayed almost fifty years. 

 

 

 

Graduation photo - 1961
Ordained in 1965

Tribute to Father L. O’Neill

Sunrise:  September 24, 1939, Sunset:  May 19, 2014

 

Monica, Bud, Anne, Brian, and Donna:

Thank you for asking me to say a few words about Lloyd.  He was deeply proud of his family and his Mulgrave roots. You know Lloyd never forgot the people of Mulgrave and as you have told me, the people of Mulgrave love their Father Lloyd.  Many have recounted how he helped them in their time of need. 

 

In my family we thought, like many others, he was the private Chaplain to the McNeil’s, but there is no doubt the O’Neill’s had him first and you were first in his heart.  I want to thank you for sharing Lloyd with all of us; we know his calling to serve others took time away from his family.

 

In a few short moments, it is impossible to capture Father Lloyd and what he meant to so many of us. He was a brother, parish priest, colleague, confidant, friend and mentor. We all knew him in our own way.  I am sure like many, some of you knew him in a deeply personal way known only to you and Father Lloyd. 

 

The role models of Lloyd’s life were his parents.  They were hardworking people of faith who taught their children, at a young age, the value of helping others particularly the poor and the troubled.  Lloyd made it his life’s work.

 

We often forget that priests are not born priests.  Lloyd was an excellent athlete, student, classmate and brother. He knew the value of hard physical work and paid for his education by cutting pulp wood, and as stevedore on the wharf in Mulgrave. 

 

I also have it on good authority that he while at “X” he was quite the ladies’ man.  He loved to dance and was on the top of every young woman’s dance card.  You see, he was a wicked step dancer.  

 

Monica tells me Lloyd was destined for the priesthood at a young age.  Like only a big sister can, she recalled Lloyd as young boy at their grandmother's where he pronounced that he was going to be a priest.  Not to be outdone Bud, who was even younger, announced that he was going to be a bishop, which caused Lloyd to say:  "Well you would be a bad bishop if you beez one". Bud, I guess he didn’t want the competition. 

 

He was a beloved and gifted parish priest. He could acknowledge the weaknesses of our church, and he was an unabashed champion of its strengths. A church where everyone was welcome and where lives would be enriched and transformed by the Holy Spirit. In our many talks about faith and the church, when I would get too far afield, he would regularly remind me that I owed my moral compass and so much more to my mother raising me in the church, and he was right.

 

He had a rare gift to see the humanity in everyone.   Regardless of who you were, when you were in his presence, you truly felt he deeply cared about you. 

 

If it is possible to be called to two vocations, Father Lloyd truly was. His calling to the priesthood was the center of his life and the essence of who he was, but calling him a Police Chaplain simply does not capture the depth of his devotion to police officers. For nearly 50 years he stood by our side. He married us, buried us, and baptized our children and grandchildren. He celebrated with us and cried with us, and yes even scolded us. When some of us lost our way, he found us and led us back. Saint Michael may be the patron saint of police officers, but in Nova Scotia Father Lloyd did his work. 

 

In the mid 90’s when the RCMP were struggling in the wake of the tragic death of Sgt. Derek Burkholder, it was Father Lloyd who knocked on their door, and together they built a Police Chaplain Program now seen as a best practice. Proving its true value, a few short years later during the Swiss Air Disaster. 

 

Lloyd was a trailblazer in so many ways. Before pop stars like Madonna, Cher, or Bono were known by only one name, there was Father “O” as he was universally known in the police community. When something bad happened, “Did anyone call Father O?” was a common refrain. 

 

In 1966 being a Police Chaplain was a little more hands on than it is today.  In those days, police officers did not have access to the specialized resources of today, but they made due. Sometimes turning to the Chaplain.  On one particular occasion Lloyd was called to a hostage taking.  It was before my time so I can only tell you the story as Lloyd told it to me.  This fellow had barricaded himself in a home and held a young woman hostage. He was armed with a knife, threatening everyone.  He did not want to talk to the police and would only talk to the priest.  So Lloyd standing at the side of the house near the front step started talking to the fellow.  He convinced him to come out on to the step and have a chat.  It must have seemed to the guy like a relatively safe bet considering Lloyd was a priest.  Once out on the step, Lloyd fearing he would go back into the house, summonsed his Mulgrave roots, reached up and muckled on to him and pulled him down over the steps and started rolling around and wrestling with the guy who was still carrying the knife.  I can only imagine the chagrin of the police on scene as they were rushing up to his aid.  Lloyd still beamed proudly when he told that story nearly 50 years later.  

 

TO POLICE CHAPLAIN REV. LLOYD O'NEILL

ON THE OCCASION OF HIS TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

IN THE PRIESTHOOD - JUNE 1990

 

When you have your back to the wall,  you call the cops.

But who do the cops call?  Father Lloyd O'Neill

Today young police officers are blessed to have robust Employee Assistance Programs and the services of Critical Incident Stress Debriefings. In the beginning Lloyd was EAP. Long before others recognized it or PTSD had a name, Father “O “ knew the impact trauma had on the lives of first responders.  He was the first to bring officers together to discuss critical incidents. He did it with nothing more than his trust in God, the officer’s trust in him, and a sincere desire to help. He knew trauma could not stay buried.  His legacy to the generations of cops to come can never be measured. 

 

I cannot count the number of times Father O accompanied police officers to deliver the news no one wants to hear, that a loved one had died.  He rescued many of us and took the lead in the most horrific of those moments.  It struck me on many occasions how he provided comfort and peace to the families of so many, regardless of their faith traditions.  In those moments, I truly saw the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer to heal and bring people to peace.  If you ever doubted the power of God, you would have had no doubts if you witnessed those moments.

 

Father “O” was born with an Irish will; when he thought he was right, well, let’s just say that he could become determined in his point of view.  There was no more loyal friend and Lloyd was someone you wanted in your corner when your back was to the wall. He simply could not be deterred when he saw an injustice that needed to be corrected.  I,  for one, knew when the conversation started, “Chris, just listen to an old guy” that was code for me to shut up and listen.  I often thought it would be tough to be his boss. Father Lloyd certainly did things his way, and we are so grateful he did. 

 

I would be remiss, if I did not acknowledge the special bond Father “O” had with both police and military veterans, he never forgot your service and never failed to recognize you whenever he could. I salute you today in his honor. 

 

As you can tell, I deeply admired Father “O”, but there was one thing I could never reconcile, how a man with such great wisdom ended up at SFX instead of St Mary’s.  But then at one of our many breakfasts, Father Owen explained to me:  “Chris, you know what an “X” grad is – that is a Cape Bretoner or a boy from Mulgrave who did not have enough money to get the bus to Halifax."  Of course, that set Father Lloyd to laughing uproariously.  But he would be quick to follow with some remark regarding the blue collar education we got from the Jesuits.  He had a great sense of humour; it was in these moments, that I knew I was truly blessed to call Lloyd my friend. 

 

Father Lloyd’s commitment and service to the Catholic Women's League, Knights of Columbus, and the sick are all worthy of comment, but I have spoken too long already.

 

I will leave the last words to his sister, Monica.  “Father Lloyd was an all round person from his early years to the end of his life. He truly believed in God and in helping others, particularly those whose lives had been shattered by personal tragedy. He had a gift..... cultural differences did not matter to him. No matter the status or the religion of a person he could cut through to the human heart. “I was put on this earth to serve,” he said and serve, he did right until the day he died.  He will be missed by all of us”.

 

 God bless you Lloyd. 

 

Authored by Christopher J. McNeil

Funeral - May 22, 2014

 

More about Father, from an introduction at an annual Kiwanis Dinner...

 

Father Lloyd O’Neill – Guest Speaker  Kiwanis (Woodlawn) Annual Dinner May 18, 2007 

 

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Kiwanians and spouses of Kiwanians, it is indeed a great pleasure for me to introduce to you Father Lloyd O’Neill.  

 

Father Lloyd has always been a person whose primary focus was service to his church, to youth and to his community, both our regional community and the wider community as well.  In 2002 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth 11 Golden Jubilee medal in recognition of outstanding and exemplary contributions to his community and to Canada as a whole.  

 

Father O’Neill or Father Lloyd, as he is known to the police officers with whom he has served as volunteer police chaplain for over 40 years, is a native of Mulgrave, Nova Scotia.  Ordained in 1965, he has served as parish priest in various parishes in the Halifax Archdiocese. In each of the communities in which he was pastor, he has assisted the local police department and the community at large.   

 

Besides his work with the Halifax Regional Police Service and the RCMP, he is coordinator of the RCMP chaplaincy program for the Province of Nova Scotia, a member of the board of Corrections Canada Chaplaincy Service and a member of the board of directors of the St. John Ambulance.  He has worked as padre for youth training camps for the military and has had a part to play in the training of new recruits to the Police forces of this municipality.  He has managed to do all this and at the same time provide outstanding service as a parish priest. Although he retired from active ministry in 2005 after 40 years, he continues to devote his time to his church and his community.  

 

Father Lloyd has spent his life working with people, assisting those affected by tragedies and by disasters such as Swissair Flight 111 and the Westray mine disaster. On call 24 hours a day, he has been on the scene of many devastating events, comforting both victims and the police as well. He has been involved for many years in debriefing sessions for police and firemen and paramedics, the first responders to critical incidents.  I quote the message written on a plaque presented to him a few years ago by his police partners in Nova Scotia:

 

“When your back is against the wall, who do you call? The police.  Who do the police call?  Father Lloyd O’Neill.”

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Father Lloyd O’Neill…  

 

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