We are saddened to announce that Fr Austin Garvey has passed away at the age of 94. He died on the 3
rd April at Nazareth House, Finchley.
Fr (Charles) Austin Garvey was born on 5 July 1926 and came to St Edmund’s after schooling at St Ignatius College, then in Stamford Hill. He was in Allen Hall between 1945 and 1951, when he was ordained by Archbishop Myers in the College Chapel.
After studies at Cambridge, he returned on to the academic staff at the College to teach Classics between 1954 and 1966, the last two years of which he was Housemaster of Talbot. During his time on the staff, he was a prodigious producer of the school plays.
From 1967 he spent 12 years as a missionary priest in Peru where he founded an institution for the mentally handicapped. He returned to the UK in 1979 and became parish priest of St Patrick’s, Soho Square.
In later years he attended the 40s-50s-60s Edmundian reunions. He died at Nazareth House last Friday morning, 3 April 2020.
Fr Austin’s brother was the late Fr Michael Garvey (1925-2002) who was the Headmaster of St Edmund’s from 1968 until 1984.
Due to the emergency protocols in place, his funeral will be private but a Memorial Requiem will be arranged at a later date.