Father Leonard J. DiNola

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Father Leonard J. DiNola, who served for 43 years as parochial vicar of three parishes in the archdiocese, died March 30. He was 87.

Father DiNola was at St. Christopher, Buchanan, 1982-2001; St. Ann, Ossining, 1963-1982; and St. Roch, Staten Island, 1958-1963.

Cardinal Dolan presided at the burial April 6 in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne.

“He was so kind,” said Msgr. Peter O’Donnell, who was a classmate of Father DiNola’s at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie. “He was a very approachable priestly person.
“He was friendly and liked jokes. He’d love to tell jokes and hear jokes. He’d come to our class dinners and tell funny stories.”
Msgr. O’Donnell remembered meeting someone who knew Father DiNola from his days at St. Ann’s, a tight-knit Italian-American community.

“He bonded with the community and they never forgot it,” Msgr. O’Donnell said. “He was a warm, compassionate, caring person and people of that community remembered him.”

Born in Manhattan, Father DiNola attended St. Columba School, Manhattan, and Cathedral Prep, Brooklyn. He earned bachelor’s degrees from Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, where he did his graduate work and completed his formation for the priesthood.

He was ordained by Cardinal Francis Spellman at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1958.

A Memorial Mass will take place at a later date.

Father Leonard J. DiNola