Father Joe Carroll’s Legacy To be Remembered During Public Celebration of Life

The public is invited to celebrate the life and legacy of Father Joe Carroll at a Celebration of Life event on August 10, 2021. Father Joe Carroll’s memory will be remembered through personal remarks, hymns, readings, music, and a special memorial video looking back on Carroll’s decades of service. Thousands of attendees are invited to share in this special celebration honoring Carroll’s decades of service to our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

A reminder to love and support thy neighbor’s need

Father Joe Carroll’s life served as a reminder to all San Diegans to love and support their neighbors in need. Throughout his decades of service to people experiencing homelessness, Father Joe Carroll created a space for community and support at Father Joe’s Villages. Under his tenure, Father Joe’s Villages became a place for the broader San Diego community to serve thousands of neighbors in need by providing housing, medical care, employment and education services, warm meals and other vital services.

The Celebration of Life is open to the public to give all, even if they did not know Father Joe Carroll personally, an opportunity to celebrate Carroll’s legacy and decades of compassion for our neighbors in need.

Father Joe Carroll’s legacy

Father Joe Carroll began his service to our neighbors in need when he was called to lead what was then known as the St. Vincent de Paul Center by Bishop Leo Maher in 1982. Carroll rose to the occasion. Over the following decades, Father Joe Carroll selflessly and tirelessly expanded his ministry at the St. Vincent de Paul Center to provide services to our neighbors overcoming homelessness.

Father Joe Carroll served as President and CEO of the organization until his retirement in 2011. The organization was renamed Father Joe’s Villages, in his honor, in 2015. Caroll continued to serve the San Diego community until his death in 2021.

Celebrating Father Joe Carroll’s life

The public is invited to leave flowers and messages for Father Joe Carroll in a designated space located between 15th and 16th Streets on Imperial Avenue by Father Joe’s Villages’ Joan Kroc Center.

The public is additionally invited to give an honor gift in Father Joe’s name to The Father Joe Carroll Memorial Fund. The fund will be dedicated to supporting the long-term success of the programs Father Joe created and supported and a future of self-sufficiency for neighbors most in need.

About Father Joe’s Villages

As San Diego’s largest homeless services provider, Father Joe’s Villages ensures that each person can rediscover hope and leave homelessness behind. To address the complex needs of people who are homeless, the organization provides housing for more than 2,400 people each night, along with health care, substance use disorder treatment, job training, therapeutic childcare and more. This mission is made possible only through the efforts of compassionate staff, volunteer work, car donation, and generous public and private charitable contributions. For more information, please visit here.

See you there….and stay healthy, San Diego!