A native of North Tarrytown, NY, Fr. Levesque was ordained a Vincentian priest on May 27, 1967, at Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, PA. He taught religious studies at St. John’s Preparatory School in Brooklyn, NY, and at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Princeton, NJ, before being assigned to Niagara’s religious studies department in 1970. Fr. Levesque left his teaching duties at Niagara University to pursue his studies in theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he earned his doctoral degree.

Fr. Levesque had a lifelong passion for the arts and music. A little-known fact about him was that, in 1969, he was one of the more than 400,000 people who made the trip to the hayfields near Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, NY, for what would become known as Woodstock.

He had just completed his first postordination assignment at St. John’s Preparatory School in Brooklyn when he received a last-minute invitation from a friend to attend “some concert in upstate New York.” “We had no idea of just how big of an event it was at the time,” he recalled years later. “We got off at the exit of the New York State Thruway and traffic slowed to a crawl, so we knew that this was more than just a concert.”

“He was kind—and always was,” recounted Brian Browne ’93C, ’97G, Associate Vice President of University Communications and Public Affairs. “I had the unique experience of having Fr. Levesque as a high school religion teacher and years later worked with him at St. John’s. He impacted so many people during a lifetime of service.”

During his tenure at St. John’s, Fr. Levesque sat for a reflective interview for a publication of  the Rho Chi Beta Delta honor society in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and expressed his thoughts on the importance of upholding the University’s Vincentian values in changing times:

“At the heart of being a Vincentian University is learning how important it is to serve others. Hopefully you will come out of St. John’s University and have a great career; hopefully you’ll have all your dreams fulfilled. Whatever those dreams are and whatever that goal is, we are helping you to accomplish them. I think people remember that St. John’s University is part of their roots, and they want to bring a part of the St. John’s Vincentian mission into their lives. I see a very strong spirit here of what it means to be Vincentian, and the St. John’s community knows that it encompasses being sensitive to others who don’t have what they have.”

As his one-year term was winding down, Fr. Levesque remarked at a June 2014 liturgy he celebrated: “I came to you last August as Joseph, your brother. Thank you for welcoming me as a brother and a colleague working with you for the good of the University.”

He added, “Thank you for being so faithfully Catholic and Vincentian, and dedicated to our ministry. Thank you for your respect, your love, and compassion. Thank you for your simplicity, your humility, your kindness, and your charity—all Vincentian values.”

Send expressions of sympathy to

St. John’s University
Office of the President
Newman Hall, Third Floor
8000 Utopia Parkway 
Queens, NY 11439

Funeral arrangements are as follows:

Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M.
who died on June 23, 2024, at the age of 85.
May he rest in peace.

Viewing
Sunday, June 30
2 to 4 p.m.
7 to 9 p.m.
St. Catherine’s Assembly Room
500 East Chelten Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19144

Funeral Mass
Monday, July 1
10:15 a.m.
Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
475 E. Chelten Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19144

Interment
Monday, July 1
Princeton Abbey and Cemetery
Section: Congregation of the Mission
75 Mapleton Road
Princeton, NJ 08540