Fr Joseph had been ill for some days and in intensive care since the end of August. Despite all the care given, the doctors at Trichy's "Kavery" hospital declared him dead at 4:15 am.
Fr Joseph was a native of Thennur, where he was born on 23 July 1964. He had his first contact with the Salesians at the "Don Bosco" school in Varadarajanpet, in 1974; after completing his novitiate in Kotagiri between 1982 and 1983, he made his perpetual vows on 4 June 1990 in Tirupattur, and was ordained a priest on 29 December 1996 in Madurai.
He was Economer of the "Sacred Heart" Institute of Tirupattur (1988-2000), Director of the center of Melanmarainadu (2000-2002), Economer of the Manikandam house, also in Tirupattur (2003-2007), and finally Director of the “Bosco Maiyam” center of Pallithammam (2011-2017).
Before being appointed INT Provincial in 2017, he had already held the office of Provincial Economer for the Province, from 2002 to 2011.
Today, at 1 pm local time, the Salesians and members of the Salesian Family from the Trichy area will meet for a suffrage Mass. The funeral is scheduled for tomorrow, 12 September, at 11 am
