Rev Stephen H Gratto

Rev. Stephen H. Gratto, 65, died at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse infirmary at 3:15 a.m. on May 26, 2012. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 12 noon at St. Mary's Church, Canton, NY with the Most Reverend Terry LaValley, Bishop of Ogdensburg presiding, and the priests of the diocese concelebrating. The homilist will be Fr. Jeff Hubbard, a close friend of Fr. Gratto. The Brown Funeral Home, Plattsburgh, is coordinator of arrangements, with calling hours at O'Leary's Funeral Home, Canton NY on Monday, May 28 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. At 8:30 p.m. there will be Evening Prayer, led by Fr. Michael Gaffney, pastor of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Church in Massena. The body will be received by Msgr. John Murphy, pastor of the Church of the Visitation, Norfolk at St. Mary's Church at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 29. Burial will be at Jerusalem Cemetery, Eddy, NY. Father Gratto was born on May 7, 1947 in Canton, NY son of the late Clarence and Anna Harvey Gratto. He attended Canton school system through junior high, and then attended Wadhams Hall High School. He entered Wadhams Hall Seminary College in 1965, with theological studies at St. Mary's in Baltimore. Fr. Gratto was ordained a priest on May 5, 1973 by Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana. Father Gratto's first assignment was Assistant Pastor at Holy Family, Watertown in 1973. He was appointed to the Staff of Catholic Charities and an assistant pastor at Brasher Falls in 1976. He was associate pastor in Sacred Heart, Massena as he continued his work at Catholic Charities. In 1981 he was made Director of Catholic Charities, Plattsburgh and in 1986 he was appointed Diocesan Director of Catholic Charities. In 1988 he was pastor in Hammond/Rossie and in 1990 pastor at St. John the Baptist Church in Madrid. Fr. Gratto was also pastor of St. Alexander's, Morrisonville and St. Joseph's, Treadwells Mill and in 2002, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Brasher Falls and St. Lawrence Church, North Lawrence. After a sabbatical in 2005, he was appointed pastor of St. Martin's Church, Port Leyden. Because of ill health, Father Gratto retired in 2011. Most recently, Fr. Gratto was a resident in the Sisters of St. Joseph' Infirmary, where he was also able to celebrate Mass for the Sisters when his health permitted. Fr. Gratto is survived by four brothers: Charles, Joseph, Peter and Clarence, and one sister, Joan, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Donations can be made to Catholic Charities or the Priests' Retirement Fund.