WARREN — Father Joel D. Oliveira, 86, Pastor Emeritus of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Warren, died on Tuesday, December 15, 2015.
Born in Setubal, Portugal, he was a son of the late Joao M. Oliveira Luzio and Maria Rosa Vieira. He attended elementary school in Setubal and high school in Aveiro, Portugal. In preparation for the priesthood, he studied in seminaries at Aveiro and Lisbon, Portugal. He was ordained on June 29, 1954 in Aveiro by the Most Rev. Joao E. de Lima Vidal. Father Oliveira served as Parochial Vicar in Estarreja and Murtosa from August 1954 until January 1957. In January 1959, he was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Boston, and named Parochial Vicar at St. Anthony Church in Cambridge and later named Pastor of the same church from April 1972 to September 1978. From 1978 to 1980, he was Chaplain at Cardinal Cushing General Hospital in Brockton, Mass. In November 1980, he began ministry in the Diocese of Providence, first as Parochial Vicar then as Pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Warren. Father Oliveira remained at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish until July 1999 when he retired as pastor emeritus.
Father Oliveira is survived by his sister Alcina Oliveira, his brother Donaciano Oliveira and his wife Maria all of Portugal, his nephew; Reverend Vitor Oliveira of Ludlow, Mass. and many nieces and nephews.
A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial was offered for the repose of his soul on December 19 in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Warren with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin as the principal celebrant and other priests concelebrating including Father Jonathan Gaspar, from the Archdiocese of Boston and Father Vitor Oliveira, nephew of the deceased, served as the homilist. Burial was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Providence.
