Father Joseph M. Kane a Norwood native and son of St. Catherine of Siena Parish there, died at Regina Cleri Residence on Dec. 9, 2018. He had been a resident there since March, 2003.

Born in Norwood on Aug. 1, 1944 he was one of the four sons of Martin and Barbara (Lydon) Kane; he was predeceased by his parents and his brothers Martin, Francis and Donald.

Raised in St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Father Kane attended the parish grammar school, in those years, the early to mid-50s, there were more than 1,200 students in the school's eight grades making it among the largest elementary schools in the archdiocese. Father Kane continued his education with the Sisters of St. Joseph trekking from Norwood to the Hub's South End attending Cathedral High School from which he was graduated in 1962.

He entered the archdiocesan seminaries in 1962, first at Cardinal O'Connell in Jamaica Plain, and then at St. John, Brighton as a member of the class of 1970. He was ordained to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral on May 23, 1970. His former pastor, Auxiliary Bishop Jeremiah Minihan ordained him. Bishop Minihan ordained the class of 1970 because the venerable, but aging and ailing, Richard Cardinal Cushing was unable to celebrate the Ordination Mass.

Following ordination he was assigned as an assistant or associate in four archdiocesan parishes: St. George, Framingham (1970); St. Thomas Aquinas, Jamaica Plain (1970-1971); St. Mary, Franklin (1971-1978) and St. Gregory, Dorchester (1978-1979).

Humberto Cardinal Medeiros named him chaplain at South Boston's Marian Manor in 1979 and he served there until November 2002. Cardinal Bernard Law granted him senior priest/retirement status in November 2002 and he first lived at Carmel Terrace in Framingham, but in March 2003 he moved his residence to Regina Cleri where he was living at the time of his death.

Father Kane was especially esteemed by the priests of the archdiocese; he seemed to know every one of them and every one of them, it seemed, knew Joe. He had a group of priest friends: some classmates, some contemporaries, others with whom he had served in his early assignments with whom he remained in regular contact.

It was not a rare happenstance to run into Joe and four to six or more of his group at area restaurants. He was always ready with a handshake a greeting and, yes, even an inquiry here or there to add to his remarkable mental catalogue about brother priests. It was rare that one of us did not receive a note from Joe on the occasion of the death of a parent or sibling.

In the past few years, Joe's health had declined and a few weeks ago, Cardinal O'Malley went to Regina Cleri to celebrate the Anointing of the Sick for him. The cardinal was the principal celebrant of Father Kane's Funeral Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Norwood on Dec. 14, 2018. Father Thomas Wyndham, a senior priest of the archdiocese living on Cape Cod, served as the homilist.

Following the Funeral Mass father Kane was buried in Highland Cemetery, Norwood.