Deacon Martin J. Finnegan

Martin James Finnegan, age 83, passed away on Friday, July 7, 2023, with his beloved family at his side, following a twelve year battle with prostate cancer. 

The lives Martin touched through his years as Deacon Martin are beyond measure - but his most important role was that of Husband, Father and Papa to his dear family.  His gentle gaze, touch and words helped heal scrapes to heartbreaks - he made the world a better more peaceful place and his memory will continue to soften the edges of our lives.

He was born in Rose Hill, Mississippi, on a snowy February 22, 1940, to Charles and Ruth Graham Finnegan, the third of six children.  (The doctor arrived in a horse and buggy, as he couldn’t drive in the snow-storm.)

He lived with his family in Petal and in Aiken, South Carolina before moving to Hattiesburg, where he graduated from Sacred Heart School in 1959. He entered the U.S. Air Force that year and served in as an aircraft mechanic and flight chief in Texas, Missouri and in Thule, Greenland during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1963, he married his high school sweetheart, the former Brenda Brown and attended Mississippi State University. They moved to Pascagoula in 1966, where he went to work at Chevron Refinery.  

He enjoyed fishing and camping with his wife and three children, and loved holidays, especially Christmas, where he often made elaborate yard decorations and took great pride in his department store level Christmas morning presentations.  He embodied Santa Claus - down to the twinkly eyes.  A rabid Mississippi State and New Orleans Saints fan, he is now likely angling for championship seasons in the coming year.

Ordained as the first permanent deacon for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi on June 17, 1979 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, he served as deacon at Sacred Heart in Pascagoula from 1979-1988. He also was Sacred Heart School Board president; parish council president, and a Boy Scout leader, and chaplain to Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts in the Diocese of Biloxi. He was chaplain at the Port of Pascagoula with the Apostleship of the Sea. He enjoyed traveling with Msgr. Gregory Johnson to Canada and Seattle to the Apostleship of the Sea international meetings. He also served on the boards of both the Cursillo of South Mississippi, and the de l’Epee Deaf Center, Inc. 

He was employed as a process operator and later as a national certified board inspector at Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula from 1966-1985, traveling to many locations, including San Juan, Puerto Rico; El Segundo, California and Hartford, Connecticut. 

He was an eager spectator in any of his children’s activities in school, soccer, dance and cheerleading, and even pierced his high school son’s ear when he requested to have it done. Whatever activity his children were interested in became his interest as well.

In 1985, he took early retirement from Chevron Refinery to teach religion at Our Lady of Victories High School (now Resurrection High School) in Pascagoula, serving as director of religious education there from 1985-1988. 

During that time, he and his family traveled to the diocesan mission at Saltillo, Mexico, where he assisted Father Patrick Quinn (who was their first pastor at Sacred Heart in Pascagoula) at Masses, baptisms, marriages and visited the sick in the parish and barrios as well as in the many small churches in the outlying ranchos.

He was appointed as the first deacon Director of the Diaconate by Bishop Howze in 1986. He and his wife were mentors to several diaconate classes in the diocese. He helped organize the second formation class of Biloxi deacons with the Mobile diocese. 

On July 1, 1988, he was appointed by Bishop Howze to serve as the first deacon pastoral associate at St. Elizabeth Seton in Ocean Springs, and as Director of Religious Education and Youth. At St. Elizabeth Seton, he helped organize the Knights of Columbus Council #10499, on November 6, 1990, serving as organizational Grand Knight and chaplain, and served as deacon there for 35 years. 

Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011, he continued to serve at St. Elizabeth Seton until his illness deemed otherwise, first, under Father George Kitchin, Father Bernard Farrell, and now Fr. Sergio Balderas. 

Martin was preceded in death by his parents, Charles E. and Nettie Ruth (Graham) Finnegan; his grandparents, James and Johanna (O’Flynn) Finnegan and Thomas and Delta Elizabeth (Spencer) Graham, and his younger brother, Johnny Ray Finnegan. 

He is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Brenda, and his three children Kenneth (Kari Branch), Natalie (Kelly Cusimano) and Darren (Renee); six grandchildren, Talia (Matt) Haebler, Kelly (Stacey) Finnegan, Andrew (Mike) Finnegan; Isabelle and Lucy Terranova and Georgia Cusimano, and two great-grandsons, Woods Finnegan Haebler, and Jack Wade Finnegan, who were the joy of his last two years.  

He is also survived by one brother, Charles Finnegan, and three sisters: Sister Chabanel (Annie Ruth) Finnegan, Elizabeth Ann Low, and Mary Frances (David) Ford and sisters-in-law, Brook Finnegan; Susan (John) Kitchin; Joanne (Robert) Byrd; Tori (Eddie) Hickson and brothers-in-law: Michael (Patricia) Brown; Gerald (Susan) Brown; and Patrick Brown. Other survivors are his former daughter-in-law, Alice Fish Barattini (Lawrence), and their son, Lucien, honorary grandson, and many nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as the community of deacons of the Diocese of Biloxi.

The family offers special thanks to the staff of Hospice of Light, especially Donna, Teadra, Ashley and all the others for their loving care.

Services will be held on Tuesday, July 11, at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 4900 Riley Road in Ocean Springs. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m. with Mass at 11:00. Due to the size of the cemetery, burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Ocean Springs will be private.

You may send condolences, sign online register, or share a memory of Deacon Finnegan on the Tribute Wall of this funeral home website.  

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society in Ocean Springs, St. Elizabeth Seton Youth Ministry, Resurrection Catholic Schools, or Sacred Heart School in Hattiesburg, MS. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Deacon Martin J. Finnegan, please visit our floral store.