John Richard Arsenault

Richard was the oldest child of Gildase (“Gill”) and Lenora Arsenault and grew up in Rumford ME, where his father was the manager of the Oxford (Paper) Company House. He attended Laval des Rapides in Quebec, Lasalle Academy in Ottawa, the University of Ottawa Normal School, the Institute of Christian Brothers in Rome, Italy and the University of Montreal, Institut Pedagogique Saint-Georges. He received his BA from the University of Ottawa and served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Eastern and Western Europe during the Korean War. Upon his return, he taught high school and received his MA from the University of Maine, Orono.

In 1958, Richard left Maine to teach high school English and history in Brentwood NY. There he met and married his wife, Catherine in 1960. They settled on Long Island, where their daughter Cathi was later born. The family often spent summers traveling the country with their camper. Richard was ordained a permanent deacon, as part of the first diaconate class in the Diocese of Rockville Center, in the spring of 1979 and served at St. John of God Catholic Church in Central Islip. Richard retired from full time teaching in 1985. In 1987 he moved with his wife to Palm Coast, FL, where he continued his ministry at Mother Seton Catholic Church, working with the migrant community, teaching bible study and ministering to the ill, poor and elderly.

In late 2014, Richard and Catherine moved to Decatur, GA, to be close to their daughter and granddaughters.

John Richard Arsenault is survived by his wife of 59 years, Catherine Louise, his daughter Cathi Callahan, and granddaughters Mia Callahan (J.P. Gaskin), and Rachel Callahan. A funeral mass will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta on May 12th (livestreamed due to the public health emergency), with burial at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs. In honor of Richard’s years of ministry to the needy, and in lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to either Mercy Care Atlanta, www.mercyatlanta.org, or St. Vincent de Paul Georgia https://www.svdpgeorgia.org/