The Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova are saddened to report that Rev. Edward V. Hattrick, O.S.A., died on Oct. 10 at St. Thomas of Villanova Monastery on campus. He was 77.

Hattrick was born on Nov. 27, 1929, at Riverhead, Long Island, N.Y., the son of William J. and Mary (Hayes) Hattrick. He had one brother, William, and one sister, Constance. He was baptized on Dec. 15, 1929, in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Riverhead, N.Y. He attended Riverhead Public Elementary and High School, and one year at Villanova College. He then applied for admission to the Order of Saint Augustine and was received as a novice on Sept. 9, 1948. Following his novice year at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, N.Y., he made first profession of vows on Sept. 10, 1949. He then returned to Villanova College to complete his Bachelor’s degree, graduating in June 1952. He professed solemn vows on Sept. 10, 1952. From 1952 to 1956 he studied theology at Augustinian College in Washington DC and was ordained to the priesthood on Feb. 4, 1956, by Bishop John McNamara at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. From 1956 to 1958 he taught at Archbishop Carroll High School and earned a Master’s degree in English from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

In 1958, after spending three months at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish in Jamaica, N.Y., he sailed to Nagasaki, Japan, helping to improve the newly founded Augustinian Missions in Japan.

His first assignment was to Our Mother of Consolation Friary and Parish in Nagasaki where he served from 1958 to 1979. From 1979 to 1982 he was assigned to St. Augustine’s Friary and Parish in Tokyo, where he was director of formation. From 1982 to 1989, he served in Nagoya at St. Monicais Friary and Parish. He returned to Nagasaki and served there from 1989 to 1997.

In 1997, at the age of 68, Hattrick volunteered for the Provinceís new mission at Bothais Hill in the Archdiocese of Durban, South Africa. There, he worked in the English-speaking parish of Our Lady of Mercy, Kloof, and in the two Zulu-speaking missions of that parish, St. Helenís and St. Leois, both of which he was instrumental in establishing. After 10 years of service there, because of failing health, he returned to Villanova and was assigned to St. Thomas Monastery.

Hattrick was dedicated to the living and the spreading of the Gospel, said Rev. Donald F. Reilly, O.S.A., prior provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova.

He was someone who did not allow the adaptation to new cultures to be an obstacle to his zeal and dedication.

A viewing and funeral Mass were held Oct. 15 at St. Thomas of Villanova Church.