Protodeacon Joseph Daratony

The Deacon:

Protodeacon Joseph Daratony served as Temporary Administrator of St Joseph parish from June 2011 to March 2013, when no priest was available to be assigned here.  With his wife, Diakonissa Marge, he kept the parish functioning with Sunday and feast-day services, baptisms, weddings, and funerals, and parish organizations and events.  He now serves the Liturgy and other services when he is able to come to Lansing from his home in New Hudson, 60 miles away.

Deacon Joe was ordained on 15 October 1975 by Archbishop Joseph Tawil, after completing four years in the Deacon Formation Program of the Archdiocese of Detroit and one year of formation in the Eparchy of Newton.  Although his parents were Melkites, Deacon Joe was raised in the Latin Catholic Church and planned to be a Latin-rite deacon.  When he applied for a transfer of church membership, he found that Archbishop Joseph had other plans for him—to ordain him as a Melkite deacon and allow him to serve in the Latin Church also.

Deacon Joe has served in the Melkite parishes of Our Lady of Redemption (Detroit, now Warren), St Michael (Plymouth), and St Joseph (Lansing).  He served in two Latin-rite parishes—Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth and Resurrection in Canton.  He also worked as a chaplain in state correctional facilities for 13 years and for five years as a hospital chaplain at Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs, CA.  In 2008, Archbishop Cyril Bustros elevated him to the dignity of Protodeacon.

Joseph Daratony and Marjorie Masamery were married in 1957.  They have five sons, 16 granddaughters, four grandsons, two great-granddaughters, and one great-grandson.