Father Joe Carroll (April 12, 1941 – July 11, 2021) was an American Roman Catholic priest who led a nonprofit in San Diego, "Father Joe's Villages and St. Vincent de Paul Center" ^[3] that assists poor, impoverished, and homeless individuals. ^[4]

Biography

Father Joe Carroll grew up in the Bronx, with his parents and seven brothers and sisters, and was an altar boy and Boy Scout. ^[5] As a child, Carroll lived across from St. Joseph Church. ^[6] Carroll got his first job in a butcher shop at the age of 8, and would go on to sell Christmas trees and do laundry machine repairs to supplement income for his parents and siblings. ^[2] As a Boy Scout, he achieved the rank of Life Scout. ^[5] Carroll moved to California in his 20s. ^[4] Initially enrolled at St. John's Seminary, in Ventura County; he was expelled for running the seminary's bookstore in a way which earned the bookstore profit after adding non-book merchandise to the bookstore. ^[2] He completed his studies at the University of San Diego in 1974 ^[7] and was ordained to the priesthood. ^[4] While enrolled at the University of San Diego, he attended seminary school in Washington, D.C. ^[1] That same year Carroll began to collect nativity sets, which at one point the collection reached 700 sets. ^[8]

Carroll was assigned to a parish church, St. Rita, in Valencia Park. ^[4] Given the choices by Bishop Leo Thomas Maher of transferring to a parish church in Needles, California, or becoming involved in St. Vincent de Paul, Carroll chose the latter. ^[1] From 1982 to 2011, Carroll led St. Vincent de Paul Village. ^[4] In 1984, Carroll appeared in a commercial seeking donations for St. Vincent de Paul which aired during the 1984 National League Championship Series, which gained him national notoriety. ^[1] Carroll was featured in a 60 Minutes story in 1985, and a Reader's Digest story in 1988. ^[9] Carroll's efforts to assist the homeless, drew criticism from the Wall Street Journal, and praise in the form of a World Habitat Award. ^{[2] [10]} In the 2000s, his organization made bobble-head dolls of him as a fundraising reward for donors. ^[11] In 2011, Carroll retired. ^[1]

After retiring from day-to-day operations of his organization, he continued to be active in fund-raising activities. ^[12] In 2013, Carroll was honored for his efforts during an event in Washington, D.C., on National Medal of Honor Day. ^[13] By 2017, Carroll had to have both his feet amputated due to complications with diabetes; ^[8] that same year he began to use a wheelchair to get around. ^[14] In 2019, Carroll was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from San Diego State University. ^[15] Due to the effects of his diabetes by 2021 Carroll had lost vision in his right eye. ^[16] He celebrated his 80th birthday on April 12, 2021, with the release of his memoir, "Father Joe Life Stories of a Hustler Priest". ^[1] In July 2021, Carroll died due to diabetes while receiving hospice care at his East Village home. ^[17] A celebration of life was held for Carroll at the San Diego Convention Center in August 2021. ^[18]

Father Joe's Villages

In 1950, Bishop Charles F. Buddy, then-bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, dedicated a chapel on F Street in Downtown San Diego to serve the poor. ^[19] The chapel would merge with a thrift store and became the St. Vincent de Paul Center in the Gaslamp Quarter. ^[19] In 1981, Carroll took over the organization, and it moved to the East Village. ^[19] In 1987, the organization opened the Joan Kroc Center which provided childcare, housing, job training, meals, and a medical clinic; this was followed by two other centers in 1989, and 1994. ^[20] In 1991 the organization became a separate organization independent of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. ^[19] In 2011, Carroll retired from leading the organization; ^[19] that year the organization employed 500 people, and had a budget of $40 million. ^[4] In 2015, the organization was renamed for Carroll; ^[19] Carroll disagreed with the name change. ^[1] As of 2020 ^[update], it is the largest service provider for homeless individuals in the City of San Diego. ^[19]

References

Further reading

• Cloward, Kathryn (2021). Father Joe: Life Stories of a Hustler Priest. Kandon Unlimited, Inc. ISBN  978-1970163629.