John L. Gerety was born on Nov. 5, 1916 to Peter and Charlotte Gerety in Shelton, Conn., the fourth of nine children. Although he desired to become a priest, like his older brother Archbishop Peter L. Gerety, after graduating high school John took a job to help his parents during the Great Depression. In 1940 he was able to open his own insurance agency. John Gerety served in World War II from 1943- 1946 as a First Lieutenant. Gerety entered St. Philip Neri for Delayed Vocations in Feb. 1951 and he finished his stud ies at St. Mary's Seminary. He was ordained at St. Anthony's Church in Trenton on May 25, 1957. He served as associate pastor at Sacred Heart, South Plainfield; St. Mary's of the Lakes, Medford; St. Cecelia's, Iseli n; S1. Joseph's, Tom's River and St. Joseph's in Keyport. Gerety became a pastor at St. James, Jamesburg Sept. 1972 and then transferred to Sl. Mary's Church in South Amboy March 1977. Among his other achievements Msgr. John L. Gerety was also a member of the Diocese of Trenton Tribunal and the Diocesan Commission for Expansion and Boundaries, President to the Middlesex County Visit ing Nurses Association, and as Chaplain of the South Amboy Fire Dept. Rev. Msgr. John L. Gerety became Prelate of Honor on April 10, 1979 and celebrated his Jubi lee Mass on May 23,1982. Rev. Msgr. John L. Gerety retired on July I, 1991 before passing away on Jan. 25, 2000 at the age of 83.
Collection is open to researchers at the Msgr. William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center. Advance appointments are required for the use of archival materials.
All materials available in this collection (unless otherwise noted) are the property of the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center and Seton Hall University, which reserves the right to limit access to or reproduction of these materials. Reproduction of materials or content is subject to United States copyright restrictions and may be subject to federal or state privacy regulations. Permission to publish exact reproductions must be obtained from the Director of the Archives and Special Collections Center.
Materials were transferred to the Archives and Special Collections Center from the Archdiocese of Newark by Monsignor Franics Seymour in 2000. Terms of accession unknown.
Collection was processed and finding aid created by Tara Hoffman in Summer 2000. HTML shell finding aid created by Tracy M. Jackson, 2013.
[Item], in the John L. Gerety papers, 1945-1999, ADN 0004.009, in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center, Seton Hall University.
The collection is arranged into ten series. Series I includes subject files, Series II includes personal books, Series III includes a scrapbook, Series IV includes newsclippings and photographs, Series V includes photographs, Series VI consists of professional photographs, Series VII includes photo albums, Series VIII includes plaques and awards, Series IX includes personal plaques, and Series X consists of World War II decorations.