FATHER VICENTE AZCOITI
SAN JUAN - Father Vicente Azcoiti, 87, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brownsville, passed away Saturday, December 15, 2018, at San Juan Nursing Home.
A native of Spain, Father Azcoiti had served the diocese since 1966. Bishop Humberto S. Medeiros invited him to come to the diocese for “a little while” and then convinced him to stay permanently. He was incardinated into the diocese in 1973.
This past September he celebrated 62 years as a priest.
Father Azcoiti, who was one of nine children, was ordained to the holy priesthood on September 9, 1956, at the Basilica de la Milagrosa in Madrid.
Father Azcoiti served as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in McAllen, St. Joan of Arc Parish in Weslaco and Christ the King Parish in Brownsville, and as administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Mercedes for nine years.
He also served as pastor of St. Anne in Pharr and St. Joseph Parish in Alamo. But his longest tenure was at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Mission, where he served as pastor for 19 years.
Father Azcoiti retired from active ministry in September 2006.
In his retirement, Father Azcoiti celebrated Masses and heard Confessions at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine until last year. He also enjoyed filling in for priests who were on vacation because it gave him an opportunity to meet new people and visit most of the churches in the diocese.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Pedro Jose and Gregoria Miqueleiz Azcoiti.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m., with a 7:30 p.m. rosary, Wednesday December 19, 2018, at Holy Rosary Church in Mission. A Funeral Mass will take place at 10 a.m., Thursday, December 20, 2018, at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine in San Juan. Interment will follow at Palm Valley Memorial Gardens in Pharr.
Funeral services are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in San Juan.