May 21, 2014

Three priests are celebrating their 40th anniversary of priesthood this year – Father Paul J. Kelly, Father Donald F. Kramberg and Father George F. Maroun, all ordained by Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana May 4, 1974 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

During the Presbyteral Assembly, Bishop Terry R. LaValley will present each with the Crux in Parasceve, a replica of the cross hanging in Wadhams Hall. This is a traditional diocesan gift for 40-year jubilarians.

Father Paul J. Kelly
Father Kelly is retired from active ministry and currently lives in Tupper Lake. A native of Buffalo, he was born Sept. 1, 1943 and studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

Father Kelly served as assistant pastor at St. Mary’s in Potsdam, St. Joseph’s, Massena, while also teaching at Holy Family High School; Notre Dame, Ogdensburg and St. Mary’s, Clayton.

In 1976, he was named to the faculty of Wadhams Hall and undertook graduate studies at Fordham University.
In 1981, Father Kelly was assigned as chaplain of the Raybrook Correctional Facility and associate pastor in Lake Placid.

He continued to serve as prison chaplain when he was named pastor in Keene and Wilmington one year later.
The priest also served as administrator of St. Joseph’s in Malone, parochial vicar at Sacred Heart in Massena, pastor in Brasher Falls, parochial vicar of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg, parochial vicar and administrator in Morrisonville, Louisville, Our Lady of Victory in Plattsburgh and in Dannemora.

Father Kelly also served as chaplain at the Ogdensburg Correctional Facility and St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center before being named pastor in Adams in 1994.

In 1996, he was named pastor in Lake Pleasant and Wells, a position he held until his retirement in 2011.

Father Donald F. Kramberg
Father Kramberg, a native of North Bangor, was born Aug. 14, 1948. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall, Our Lady of the Angels in Albany and Christ the King Seminary in Olean.

Father Kramberg served as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart in Massena, St. Augustine’s in Peru and St. Mary’s in Canton.

In 1980, he was appointed to the faculty at Wadhams Hall, a position he held for 11 years. In 1991, he served as administrator in Old Forge and then at St. Alphonsus in Tupper Lake.

He also served as parochial vicar in Clayton and St. Mary’s in Canton before being named pastor in AuSable Forks in 1992.

In 1998, he was named pastor of St. Alphonsus Church in Tupper Lake with added responsibilities as pastor of Holy Name in Tupper Lake in 2002.

In 2004 he became pastor in Dannemora with the addition of the Redford parish in 2006.

Father Kramberg also served the diocese as director of the Department of Communications.

He retired in 2013 and currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Father George F. Maroun
Father Maroun, pastor of Carthage and Copenhagen since 2002, is a native of Tupper Lake, born Sept. 25, 1948. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall and Christ the King seminaries.

Father Maroun served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Cathedral and Holy Family in Watertown before joining the Ogdensburg Peruvian Apostolate. He served at St. Martin de Porras Parish in Mollendo, Peru, from 1982 until his return to the United States in 1988.

After a short sabbatical leave, he was named parochial vicar at St. Anthony’s in Watertown and, in 1989, pastor in Norfolk.

In 1994, Father Maroun was appointed to the faculty of Wadhams Hall where he served as spiritual director and assistant professor of language and religious studies until 2002 when he moved to Carthage.

Father Maroun also served the diocese for 26 years in the Diocesan Mission Office. He was assistant director from 1978 until being named director in 1984, a position he held until 2004.