Fr Thaddeus Foo passes away

JOHOR BAHRU: Catholics in the central region of Johor are mourning the loss of one of their longest-serving priests, Fr Thaddeus Foo Yu Sen, who passed away peacefully at 12 noon on Aug 22 at Graceville, Majodi Centre. He was 82, two months short of his 83rd birthday.

He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the Oesophagus in September 2017 and his condition worsened thereafter.

The funeral Mass took place at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Aug 24, with Bishop Bernard Paul as the main celebrant, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam and a number of priests concelebrating.

After Mass, the cortege left for the Church of St Simon to allow parishioners there to pay their last respects to the late Father Foo, followed by burial there.

Fr Thaddeus was born in Kuang-tong Province, China, into a family of four brothers and two sisters, of whom he is the youngest.

He received his primary education in Khoon Aik Chinese Primary School, Kangar, Perlis and continued with his secondary education at St Xavier’s Institution and Chung Ling High School, both in Penang.

He read Law and attained his bachelor of Law (LLB) from Cheng-Chi University, Taipei, Taiwan from 1959-1963. He subsequently proceeded to the Seminario de Vocation Tardia (Seminary for Late-vocation) in Salamanca, Spain in 1965.

Fr Foo then continued with his seminary formation at the Seminario Conciliar, Madrid, Spain from 1966-1971.

He was ordained a priest in Madrid, Spain in 1970.

A polyglot, Fr Foo speaks eight languages including Spanish, Hakka, Teochew and Hokkien.

He began his priestly ministry in East Malaysia serving as an assistant priest at the Roman Catholic Mission in Limbang, Miri, Sarawak. from 1971-1972. He then went on to assist at the Roman Catholic Mission in Miri from 1972-1974.

From October 1974-1975, he was sent to take charge of the Roman Catholic Mission in Seria, Brunei.

His priesthood then took him to the Diocese of Malacca-Johore where he was put in charge of the Holy Family Church in Ulu Tiram, Johor, where he served from 1976-1978.

From March 31 1978 – 1981, he was parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pontian, Johor.

Subsequently in 1981-1983, he assisted at St Theresa’s Church. In 1983 he was transferred to the Church of St Mary, Ayer Salak, Melaka as parish priest from 1983-1988.

In 1989 he was made the parish priest of the Church of Christ the King, Kulai. He served the parish for two years when he was again transferred to Muar and made parish priest of the Church of St Andrew from 1992 to 1995. During that time he was also the administrator of the Church of St Henry, Batu Pahat.

From 1995-2004, he took up the position of parish priest of St Philip, Segamat and was in charge of the surrounding areas of Cha’ah (1999), Labis (2001) and also as administrator of St Anthony, Cha’ah, Johor.

After his retirement at the age of 75 in 2010, he continued to serve as parish priest of St Simon, Labis. Upon full retirement from active service, Fr Foo spent some months visiting his relatives overseas before taking up residence in Graceville on March 1, 2018.

Whilst here, he was lovingly cared for by the nurses and care-givers until his demise.

Bishop Bernard Paul described the death of Fr Foo as a great loss to the Catholic Church of Melaka-Johor. He also extended his deepest condolences to the family and the parish communities of Fr Foo. The Bishop also assured them of his fraternal prayers and support in this time of loss.

Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam said he was saddened to hear of the death of Fr Foo. He said Fr Foo mostly served in Melaka-Johor and the Catholics there will surely miss him. — By Vincent D’Silva

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online