Obituary: Father Raymond O. Goulet, senior priest in Marlborough

A Marlborough native where he was born on March 24, 1932, Father Raymond Goulet died there on June 21. He was 82.

Son of the late Oscar and Juliette (Cormier) Goulet, he attended local schools before entering St. John Seminary and following completion of seminary studies he was ordained at Holy Cross cathedral on Feb. 2, 1957 by Archbishop Richard J. Cushing.

For the next 40 years he served in archdiocesan parishes beginning at St. Ann, Peabody where he was an assistant until 1961. For the next seven years he was an assistant at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Brockton. He served briefly as an associate at St. Andrew, Billerica in early 1968, returning later that year to the Boxer City now as an associate at St. Margaret Parish. Except for a brief period of health leave in 1970 he was an associate at the Brockton parish until 1976.

For nearly two decades, 1976 to 1995 he was part of the team ministry at St. Joseph Parish in Medford serving either as a member (1976-1987) or moderator (1987-1995).

The parishes where Father Goulet served were either relatively newly established ones established where steady growth was taking place or rather large and well populated ones with many established ministries and parish schools.

The Medford Team Ministry was among the more durable of the novel plan of clergy staffing in the archdiocese lasting as long as it did and able to accommodate changes of priestly personnel.

Due to health problems, Father Goulet was granted senior priest retirement status in 1997. For the past 17 years he has lived in his hometown of Marlborough. His immediate survivors are his sister, Sister Claire Goulet, PM, St. Hyacinth, QC, Canada and a brother Charles of Marlborough.

His Funeral Mass was celebrated on June 27 at St. Matthias Church in Marlborough. Following the Funeral Mass he was buried in St. Mary Cemetery in the Goulet family lot.