Stocking, Joseph D. (Father)

Jesuit Father Joseph D. Stocking died July 26, 2014, in Seattle, at the age of 79.  He entered the Society on Aug. 14, 1954, was ordained June 10, 1967, and took final vows on May 14, 1979.

Fr. Stocking was born on Sept. 6, 1934, in Seattle to Robbins Stocking and Camilla Doyle Stocking.  He was raised in Seattle and attended St Joseph’s Grade School and Seattle Preparatory School.  After two years at the University of Notre Dame, he entered the novitiate at Sheridan, Oregon in 1956.

After a normal course of studies in the Society that included three years of regency at his high school alma mater, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Bernard Topel in Spokane, Washington, on June 10, 1967.

Fr. Stocking divided his years of ministry in two parts.  He was an English teacher and librarian at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane from 1969-1980 and then taught English at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma from 1980 -1983.  From 1983 until he retired from active ministry in 2008, he served in a number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Seattle (Sacred Heart, Bellevue, 1983-84; St. Pius X, Mountlake Terrace, 1984-1986; St. Leo, Tacoma, 1987-1992; Christ the King, Seattle, 1992-1999; St. Edward, St. George and St. Paul, Seattle, 1999-2001; and St. Jude, Redmond, 2001-2008).  Fr. Stocking was a dedicated and joyful minister and priest of the Church and the Society of Jesus, who enjoyed working with young people and was a friend and counselor to many.