Young, Rev. Peter G.

ALBANY- Father Peter G. Young passed away peacefully on December 9, 2020 at the Albany Medical Center.Born on August 4, 1930, he was the son of Peter G. Young Sr. and Eleanor Quirk Young.Peter attended Christian Brothers Academy and graduated from Siena College.He was a stellar athlete, traveling with the Negro Baseball League in the 1950’s and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.As fate would have it, he was also drafted into the US Navy for the Korean conflict, ending his chance to play professional baseball.While in the Navy, he was called into the priesthood.

Fr. Young was ordained a Catholic priest on May 23,1959, and was made the pastor of St. John’s Church in the South end of Albany where he earned the title of “street priest”.He had the honor of working with Bishop Howard Hubbard in the 1960’s while then Father Hubbard was a young priest.Fr. Young taught at Cardinal McCloskey High School and was always grateful to his students whom he kept in touch with until his death.In the south end, he saw how the alcohol and drug addiction that encircled his parish destroyed families and lives, and founded what is now known as Peter Young Housing Industries and Treatment.The network he envisioned and then made a reality provided on a yearly basis housing, treatment, job trainingand jobs to thousands of people in over a hundred locations throughout New York state.

In 1977, he became the Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing which he used as a base to work with inmates inside Mt. McGregor Correctional facility in Wilton.As the Chaplain with the New York State Department of Corrections at McGregor, he founded the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program (ASAT) that was modeled throughout New York State and still today provides drug and alcohol treatment services to 10,000 inmates per year. In Bolton, he found joy with the many loyal parishioners. Upon retirement from active pastoring, he returned to the south end of Albany where he served the Mother Theresa community.

Father Peter Young founded Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Albany and served as the Chaplain to the New York State Senate.He felt his greatest accomplishment was decriminalizing the law on alcoholism, taking it from a criminal context to a disease model.He was on the forefront of the self-help movement and traveled to Akron, Ohio to spend time with Sister Mary IgnatiaGavin at Rosary Hill to learn about AA which he brought back and introduced into the Albany community.

Father Peter Young dedicated his entire life to serving the most forgotten and vilified members of our society – people who struggle with addiction, poverty and criminal backgrounds.Today, thousands are living successful, prosperous lives because of Father Young. His mission of compassion for the socially disenfranchised will continue, uninterrupted.

He will be missed and remembered by his big smile and hearty laugh.His ministry was deeply rooted in the beatitudes and he lived his life by the motto “Unless someone offers a friendly smile, a helping hand, a caring word, with a listening ear, somebody somewhere loses the courage to live.”

Father Young is predeceased by his parents, Eleanor and Peter G. Young Sr., and cousins William Balfe Sr., Rita Luibrand, and Francis Balfe.He is survived by his cousins, William J. Balfe (Isabelle), Kathleen Balfe, Timothy Balfe, Kevin Luibrand (Mary Grace), Mary Katherine Lamb (Craig Taylor), Peter Luibrand (Arlene), David Luibrand (Danielle), Judith Malm (Donald), Theresa Gallager (Douglas), Patrick Balfe and their children.

Due to COVID restrictions, funeral services will be private but will be livestreamed on www.rcda.org/livestream from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception;and due to the winter storm services arerescheduled toSATURDAY December 19, 2020 starting at 11:00 am.

A public celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

In memory of Father Peter Young, contributions can be made to the Peter G. Young Foundation at 134 Franklin St., Albany, NY 12202.