Rev Philip Anthony Acquaro CSB

 Father Philip Anthony Acquaro, CSB
12/11/1940 - 12/01/2022

Father Philip Acquaro, CSB died peacefully on December 1, 2022, at the Village of Southampton. He would have turned 82 on Dec. 11. He had been a member of the Congregation of the Priests of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers) for 57 years and a priest for 52 years.

Father Acquaro was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Philip Acquaro and May Pino. After graduating from St. Anthony High School, he attended the University of Detroit, the University of Nevada and St. Benedict's College. Joining the Brothers of the Rosary, he taught for three years in Reno, NV. After deciding to study for the priesthood, he entered the Basilian Fathers Novitiate in Pontiac, MI. Following first profession of vows in 1965, he completed his studies for a BA at the University of Windsor and taught one year at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, NY. He began his theological studies at St. Basil's Seminary in Toronto receiving his MDiv degree from the Univ. of St. Michael's College in 1970. He was ordained a priest in Dec. 1970. Additionally, he earned a MS from the University of Nebraska in 1974 and a JCL from Catholic University of America in 1990.

Father Acquaro taught for ten years at Catholic Central High in Detroit before becoming the principal in 1980. After graduate studies he was assigned to Phoenix where he worked in the Bishop's Office, Diocese of Phoenix. Working in the Tribunal allowed him to assist the local Byzantine Catholic Church as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Church for 15 years. In 2007 he retired and was assigned to Dillon House in Houston, where he oversaw the construction of the new retirement residence. He had been in poor health for a number of years and in assisted living for the past two years.

His parents preceded him in death. Father Acquaro is survived by his sister, Shelley, and her husband, Bob Holman, of Scottsdale, AZ. He is mourned by his Basilian brothers and the many people whom he served in different parts of the country.

Burial will be in the Basilian Fathers plot in Forest Park Cemetery, Lawndale. There will be a Memorial Mass at St. Anne Catholic Church, 2140 Westheimer Road on Friday, December 9 at seven o'clock in the evening.