A funeral Mass was held on Nov. 19 at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Butler for Franciscan Father Mario Di Lella, who died on Nov. 13 in Beacon, N.Y. He was 97. He was a professed Franciscan friar for 76 years and a priest for 71 years.
Born in 1927 in Paterson, Brother Di Lella attended St. Bonaventure Elementary School and graduated from St. Bonaventure High School in 1945.
Because of the influence of the friars serving at St. Bonaventure Parish, Father Di Lella decided to join the friars’ formation program at St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y. His brother, Alexander Di Lella, was also a Franciscan friar.
Father Di Lella was received into the Franciscan order in 1947, made simple vows in 1948, professed solemn vows in 1951, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1953.
His first assignment was to a mission parish in Moultrie, Ga., in 1954, as the first permanent pastor of that faith community.
Father Di Lella entered the U.S. Air Force as a reservist on active duty in 1958 and was promoted to full colonel in 1978. He retired from the Air Force Reserves in 1987. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a military chaplain.
In addition, Father Di Lella served as pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Thomasville, Ga., from 1964 to 1970 and was religious superior of the Franciscan friary there.
Most of Father Di Lella’s years as a Franciscan were dedicated to campus ministry. He spent 38 years at The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga., and four years at the University of Florida at St. Petersburg.
In 1984, he received the Graduate Student Center Staff Member of the Year Award at Georgia Tech. The following year, he led the construction of a new Catholic center on campus.
Father Di Lella was made an honorary Georgia Tech Alumnus in 1990. At the University of Florida, he expanded the campus ministry outreach program. He received the Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award from 2008 to 2009.
He retired to St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg in 2008 and moved to St. Lawrence Friary in Beacon, N.Y., in 2023.
Father Di Lella is survived by family members, friends, and friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
He was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.
