EID, MONSIGNOR FREDERICK M

A mass of Christian burial took place April 28 at Our Lady of Grace Church, Hoboken, for Monsignor Frederick M. Eid, a native of Union City and a priest for nearly 63 years. He died peacefully April 23 in Hoboken, where he has resided and ministered for nearly 43 years. Known as a “priest’s priest”, he was a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Grace Church since 1968, retiring officially in 1995, but remained in residence at the rectory and continued to minister in the parish until an accident required the assistance of a caregiver. He was cared for lovingly by the family of Dr. Eduardo and Marta Cabrera, who were close personal friends of Msgr. Eid.
During his long tenure at Our Lady of Grace Church, Msgr. Eid started the first Spanish Mass and continued to preside over and build up that community until 2008. He was involved in the catechetical program or CCD and started one for the Spanish-speaking children. He was very involved in the religious instruction of the now merged parish school. He was also involved in all the parish organizations.
Ordained by Archbishop Thomas Walsh on May 31, 1947, his first assignment was at St. Michael’s in Union where he stayed until 1962. In the early 1960s, when new movements were sweeping the church, Msgr. Eid took a step that changed his life. He volunteered in 1962 to study Spanish in Mexico and then spent two years ministering to the people of Honduras. When he returned to the archdiocese in 1966, he spent brief stays at a mission for black Catholics in Orange and then St. Mary’s, Jersey City, before coming to Hoboken. The Spanish community loved Msgr. Eid. “We are grateful he learned our language to serve us better,” said Marta Cabrera, a Cuban immigrant who has been close to Eid since 1969 and worked with him at the Casa de Caridad, a Cuban social and spiritual center located in Union City.
Msgr. Eid served as chaplain to both the Hoboken Police and Fire Departments, who had honor guards at the funeral mass. Newark’s Archbishop John Myers presided and Bishop Thomas Donato, the Episcopal Vicar for Hudson County preached. Bishop David Arias, retired, presided at the Vigil Mass the evening of April 27. Both masses were celebrated at Our Lady of Grace Church.
Msgr. Eid is survived by his sisters Marie Eitner, from Brick, N.J., and Veronica Eid of Union City; a nephew, Reverend James Reilly, pastor of St. Michael’s parish, Palisades Park, N.J., and 14 endeared nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Anna and Frederick M. Eid; a brother, Joseph, and two sisters, Marguerite Reilly and Anna Finn. Eid graduated from Holy Family High School, now closed, in Union City in 1936 and worked for a few years in Manhattan until he enrolled in Seton Hall in 1939 on the priesthood track for two years before graduating Darlington Seminary. Msgr. Martin R. Kelly, pastor emeritus of St. Bridget’s, Jersey City, was his classmate. Services arranged by the Failla Memorial Home, Hoboken.