Obituary of Father Nicholas Gruner

GRUNER, Father Nicholas Nightingale - Passed away suddenly on April 29, 2015 at his office in Fort Erie, Ontario. He was the beloved son of the late Malcolm and Jessie (Mullally), the dear brother of the late Michael (Violet), the late Peter (Gay), the late Christopher (Ruth), the late Anthony (Wendy), Cecilia (Richard), and Jennifer (John), and the cherished uncle to 16 nieces and nephews and 27 grand nieces and nephews. Father was born on May 4, 1942 in Montreal, Quebec. He graduated from McGill University with a degree in Commerce and earned post-graduate degrees in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum) in Rome. He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in Avellino, Italy on August 22, 1976 and, in 1978, launched The Fatima Crusader - a magazine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. Over the next 37 years, he and his apostolate, The Fatima Center, promoted the complete Fatima message worldwide through books and other literature, conferences, Rosary rallies, television programs, websites, and the distribution of millions of Rosaries and scapulars. He worked to his last breath to try to convince the Holy Father to release the entire Third Secret of Fatima and to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Father was a kind-hearted person with a warm laugh, who will be greatly missed by his family, the staff of the Fatima Center, and the countless souls all over the world whom he touched and whose faith he helped deepen. The Visitation will be on Wednesday May 6th at the Amigone Funeral Home, 3644 Genesee Street, Cheektowaga, New York from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; Thursday, May 7th and Friday, May 8th at the Benner Funeral Home, 1105 Benner Road, Fort Erie, Ontario from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; and Saturday, May 9th at the Scotiabank Convention Centre, 6815 Stanley Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario from 8-9 a.m. The Holy Rosary will be prayed during the Visitation at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday and at 9 a.m. on Saturday. A Pontifical High Mass will be celebrated for Father by His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay on Saturday, May 9th at 9:30 a.m. at the Scotiabank Convention Centre, 6815 Stanley Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario, followed by the Interment at Saint Michael Cemetery on Stonemill Road, Fort Erie, Ontario. In lieu of flowers, your prayers and alms to the Fatima Center for the continuation of Father's work would be appreciated. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.