Msgr. Gary Secor in Feb. 2021. (HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
Msgr. Gary Secor celebrates 10 years as vicar general and more than 40 years in service as a priest of the Diocese of Honolulu
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
If not a priest then maybe a pilot. That’s what Msgr. Gary Secor in an alternative life might have chosen as his profession because he’s had a passion for flying since he was a Civil Air Patrol cadet.
But then again, no one, including Msgr. Secor, much doubted he’d be anything but a priest. The even-keeled kid who loved helping at his local parish and being an altar server seemed tailor-made for the clergy. And he was.
Msgr. Secor has been ordained almost 44 years now and is marking his tenth year as the Diocese of Honolulu’s vicar general, or second-in-command after Bishop Larry Silva.
And the signs toward a life of priestly service started early for the now-monsignor.
Priestly beginnings
Msgr. Secor has Portuguese roots in Hawaii. His maternal grandfather, Manuel Baptiste, was one of the founding members of the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai and was the vice president of Schuman Carriage when he died. Baptiste was a Holy Name Society leader, connected with Catholic Social Services (now Catholic Charities Hawaii) and was one of the officials who welcomed Bishop James Sweeney as the Diocese of Honolulu’s first bishop.
The priest’s island-born mother, Alice, met her future husband, Donald Secor, while going to business college in California. Their firstborn, Gary, arrived in 1951 while they were living in the Berkeley/Oakland area of California. But after a trip home to Hawaii to visit Alice’s family when baby Gary was four months old, the young family ended up staying permanently.
High school-aged Gary Secor with his parents, Alice and Donald, and the family dog and cats when the family lived in the Enchanted Lakes neighborhood of Kailua. (Courtesy photo)
The Secors had three more children, Cheri, Wendy and Donna, and raised their kids in Kailua. Both Donald and Alice were active in church activities, Donald with the Serra Club and other involvement and Alice as St. John Vianney Parish’s secretary and a choir member for many years.
The monsignor’s sister, Cheri Nollenberger, who is a year younger, remembers him “playing priest” as a young child. She also recalls that since she followed one grade behind her brother at St. Anthony School in Kailua, teachers had high expectations of her after having “model student” Gary.
Of her brother’s desire to be a priest, Nollenberger says, “It was always his calling in life. It was something that he always wanted.”
Donald and Alice Secor with their infant son Gary outside of St. Augustine Church in Oakland, California, in 1951 on his baptism day. High Schooler Gary Secor in his Civil Air Patrol uniform. Bishop John Scanlan ordains Father Gary Secor at St. John Vianney Church on Aug. 13, 1977.
Gary went to St. Anthony from kindergarten through eighth grade, and his vocation started there as an altar server. After St. John Vianney Parish opened in the Enchanted Lake neighborhood of Kailua, it became the Secors’ parish, and Gary switched to altar serving there.
St. John Vianney’s founding pastor, Father John Read, was a mentor to the young Secor. By the time he was in middle and high school, Gary was regularly helping around the parish after classes. He even stayed in the parish rectory for a month in high school while his parents were traveling “since I practically lived there a lot of time after school anyway,” he says. The Sulpician priests who taught at the nearby St. Stephen Seminary and came to help Father Read were also influences.
Although the high school seminary at St. Stephen was still open at the time, Gary’s parents wanted him to attend a regular Catholic high school. So, he went to Maryknoll School in Honolulu. It was there that he became very involved in the school’s Civil Air Patrol program, learning to fly gliders and single-engine airplanes and reaching the second-highest rank of Cadet Lt. Colonel.
“If he hadn’t become a priest, he probably would have been a pilot because he loved to fly,” says his sister Cheri. “He just loved aviation. But he loved God more and that was his calling.”
Of flying, Msgr. Secor says, “I loved it but I was never completely comfortable flying.”
Heading to seminary
He graduated with honors from Maryknoll in 1969 and, with his parents’ support, planned a path to the priesthood. He entered St. Stephen Seminary’s college program which sent its seminarians to Chaminade University of Honolulu. There he majored in philosophy and minored in psychology.
It wasn’t all studying, as Secor had some forays into the dramatic arts.
The priest with the fine singing voice had his first musical training at St. Anthony School, where the music teacher at the time was Hedwig Trapp, one of the “Sound of Music” Von Trapp siblings.
Secor’s dramatic skills were put to the test in college when he played leading roles as Don Quixote and Prospero in two separate productions. He admits to being a bit of a procrastinator and recalls having to memorize a huge amount of Shakespearean dialogue very quickly as his “The Tempest” performance approached.
Seminarian Gary Secor, center, with, from left, his paternal grandmother, Bertha Rhoades, sister Cheri, and mother Alice. (Courtesy photo)
After Chaminade, he moved on to post-graduate priesthood formation on the mainland. He still remembers heading on an all-night flight from Oahu to California in September 1973 with another Hawaii seminarian, Terrence Watanabe. Waiting at the airport to shuttle them back to St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park was current seminarian Larry Silva. Silva had been born in Hawaii and raised in California, a reverse of Secor’s origins. The future bishop and his future vicar general became fast friends.
“The Hawaii connection was a part of it,” Bishop Silva recalls. “Most of all, however, we had a spiritual connection, and that was the greatest bond between us.”
Watanabe, who is a monsignor now and serving on Maui, recalls seminarian Secor as being a bit quiet but always pleasant. In fact, he recalls other St. Patrick seminarians good-naturedly labeling the more introverted Gary and the similarly reserved Honolulu seminarian Nathan Mamo “Doom and Gloom,” in comparison to the high-spirited Terry and Richard Taylor, another Hawaii seminarian, whom they called “Goodwill and Cheer.”
After Secor earned his master’s degree in theology, Bishop John Scanlan ordained him to the priesthood on Aug. 13, 1977, at his home parish of St. John Vianney. Msgr. Secor says the day was “kind of overwhelming” but that it was wonderful to have his extended family, his friends and his mentors all together for the celebration.
Father Gary Secor’s 1977 priesthood ordination. From left: Father Pat Freitas, Father Secor, Bishop John Scanlan, Father Joseph Ferrario, and Father John Read. (Courtesy photo)
Varied service
Father Secor’s first parish assignment was as an associate pastor at St. Anthony, Kailua, from 1977 to 1981. In 1981 he became diocesan vocations director before being appointed pastor at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Parish in Mililani from 1986 to 1998. It was at St. John’s where Msgr. Secor says he learned to be a pastor and grew to love the people of his parish.
One of his former parishioners is Pearl Bates, who taught religious education at the parish while Father Secor was there. Bates says that in all the years she’s known and worked with Msgr. Secor, she’s never seen him angry. Even faced with difficult people or situations, he remains calm.
Bates says he always responds with a promise of prayer when she texts him asking for it. He’s presided at funeral services for past parishioners and made special hospital visits for those he hears about. Bates remembers his going to visit a non-Catholic in the hospital that she brought to his attention, even though the woman had no association with the church, but was “a child of God.”
Then-Father Gary Secor, pastor, in green alb, presides at the 25th anniversary Mass for St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani. Concelebrants were Father Anthony Pascale, former pastor, and Fathers Art O’Brien and Dennis Koshko (second from left), former associate pastors. At far left is Deacon Wally Mitsui.
Bates says he was a godsend to her two daughters when they were hospitalized at different times. When one daughter was in a hospital burn unit, Bates asked Father Gary, who was no longer at St. John’s at that point, if he could come to the hospital. He was there that same day.
“Things like that are the things that stick in people’s minds about Father Gary,” Bates says. “Priests are there to serve and not to be served, that’s Father Gary in a nutshell.”
She also recounts Msgr. Secor’s warm smile and how he sometimes laughs at his own jokes before telling them in homilies. She once asked him why he did that. “Because when you think about it, you laugh,” he replied.
“He’s a priest, he’s a friend, he’s a lovely human being with a lot of feeling, a lot of heart,” Bates says. “And it doesn’t just go out to parishioners, it goes out to anyone.”
Family matters
After St. John Apostle and Evangelist, Father Secor was rector of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu from 1998 to 2001, a role he took over again from 2015 to 2019.
Father Secor was also vicar for clergy from 2001-2007. He then served as pastor at Holy Trinity Parish in Kuliouou until January 2011 when he replaced the departing Father Marc Alexander as vicar general.
Outside of diocesan work, Msgr. Secor serves as a spiritual advisor to the lay Catholic movement Basic Christian Community of Hawaii. He describes himself as “conservative theologically” and says BCC aligns itself similarly. He likes how it engages with young Catholics and also helps bring lapsed Catholics back to the church.
Cathedral basilica parishioner and BCC member Karl Sandbo has known Msgr. Secor for many years. For a time, Sandbo was seriously considering a vocation to the priesthood and Msgr. Secor mentored him.
“Not only was he an authority figure, he was also very good at helping my faith develop through a relationship with Jesus,” Sandbo says, pointing out how then-Father Secor taught him to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
They would go on hikes, boogie boarding and on other adventures. Sandbo and Secor worked together on BCC retreats and, up until the pandemic, co-led a BCC small group for over 15 years. Msgr. Secor presided at Sandbo’s wedding to his wife Antonija and baptized their three children.
“He’s been kind of like a second father to me for the last 15 years,” Sandbo says.
Bishop Scanlan with Father Secor after the latter’s ordination Mass. Father Secor with two of his nieces, Jennifer and Nicole, on the day he baptized both. Then-Father Larry Silva and Father Secor outside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican during Father Secor’s first trip to Rome. Father Silva was on sabbatical at the time studying at the Pontifical North American College. (Courtesy photos all)
While being a “father” to others, Msgr. Secor stepped in to take care of his own father and mother for the last several years. His sister Cheri Nollenberger says she’s thankful her busy brother has managed to be their parents’ primary caretaker since she and her two sisters live on the mainland.
At one point Msgr. Secor was acting as the cathedral basilica’s rector, vicar general and moderator of the curia, while dealing with his parents’ health issues. In 2019, he was able to pass on the cathedral role and focus on the latter two responsibilities.
“I don’t know how he does it,” Nollenberger says. “My brother, if he’s overloaded, you’d never know it.”
“He’s very good at delegating, but yet he handles a lot himself,” she says. “If someone has a need, he is the first person to jump in. And he’s been that way since day one.”
Because he isn’t currently pastor of a specific parish, Msgr. Secor was able to move back into his family home in Lanikai to care for Donald and Alice Secor.
“It’s been eye opening and challenging to take care of my parents,” he says. But he’s grateful that his current role allows him to do so.
His father, Donald, remained “sharp as a tack” until his death in July 2020. His mother, Alice, has increasing dementia and needs someone with her most of the day. A cousin helps when Msgr. Secor needs to attend to diocesan duties.
Msgr. Secor has also been there for his extended family over the years, for baptisms and weddings and other events where a priest relative comes in very handy. He once baptized two of his infant nieces at the same ceremony.
“He’s always there for anybody and everything,” Nollenberger says.
“My brother, there’s this presence about him that people just know he has this peace within.”
Righthand man
That calm aura has served Msgr. Secor well as vicar general. He describes the job as “doing whatever the bishop wants you to do,” and the position makes him the diocese’s second-highest administrator after the bishop.
Msgr. Gary Secor, at left, with Bishop Larry Silva in St. Peter’s Basilica in January 2020 during the bishop’s ad limina visit with Pope Francis. (Photo courtesy Msgr. Gary Secor)
Like most vicars general he is also the diocese’s moderator of the curia, roughly equivalent to a vice president in a secular business and which involves managing the diocese’s central offices and departments.
“He is always respectful, but is not afraid to disagree with me,” Bishop Silva says. “He is not a ‘yes-man’ but helps me to see different points of view when I am making decisions.”
Msgr. Secor has had to take on some difficult tasks in his priesthood, including closing Holy Trinity School after it was no longer financially viable, working to raise funds for the cathedral basilica’s renovation, and handling clergy abuse cases.
Of the latter, Msgr. Secor says that “the sad reality is that things have happened.” He says that while the number of priest abuse cases compared to the number of priests has been small, “one case of abuse is one too many.”
As vicar general and in his prior vicar for clergy role, Msgr. Secor has been closely involved in handling reported cases of clergy and church-related abuse. It can weigh someone down, hearing victim testimonies and going to a parish to tell its parishioners that their priest is being removed after being accused of abuse.
“What helps me with it is my personal conviction of the value of the priesthood,” he says.
Praying the Liturgy of the Hours daily and regular meetings with a spiritual director have been his “spiritual anchors” throughout most of his priesthood.
“There are still waves and upheavals but I still have my anchors,” Msgr. Secor says.
Alice Secor congratulates her son, Msgr. Gary Secor, at his investiture as a monsignor in 2017. (HCH File photo) (Courtesy photo)
“It’s a very stressful job,” says Msgr. Watanabe of being vicar general. “And especially in this day and age when you’re talking about all the [clergy sex abuse] cases and all the issues that come up, lawsuits and the like, there’s no question that you need somebody who has the kind of temperament that’s going to remain calm and put people more at ease … through the process.”
“I send him a big mahalo for taking on the job,” Msgr. Watanabe adds. “I think he’s been a wonderful example of what discipleship is all about.”
In 2016, Bishop Silva announced that the pope had approved Father Secor to receive the honorary title of monsignor in recognition of his many years of service to the diocese.
“Msgr. Gary is a man who loves the Lord and loves people,” Bishop Silva says. “He is humble and simple, but very competent in all he does. He is a true servant and never tires of giving himself to others.”
On April 16, Msgr. Secor turns 70, which is the normal priest retirement age. But he plans to keep working if the bishop allows him to. He says his priesthood has been “a great blessing.”
“I think I’ve been very blessed with a life that has, in many ways, been fulfilling,” he says. “I’ve always been happy in what I’ve been doing.”
“It’s been a great joy to be a priest.”
For a personal reflection by this story’s writer, go to hawaiicatholicheraldblog.wordpress.com
