Rev. James Dalton-Thompson, 60

The Rev. James P. Dalton-Thompson, former rector of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, died shortly after noon on Dec. 1 in a Derry, N.H. hospital. The cause of death was complications of cancer.

Active in the Rockville Centre Clergy Association and known to many firefighters as a former chaplain of the Rockville Centre Fire Department for several years in the early 2000s, Father James, as he was also known, served as rector of the church on N. Village Avenue for 11 years — from 1995 to 2005. Following his ordination in 1983, he had also served another church in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and as chaplain at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. He joined the congregation of St. Mary the Virgin in Falmouth, N.H. in November 2005.

Trained as an educator, Dalton-Thompson spent six years at The Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield, Mich., where he was the chairman of the Foreign Language and Classics Department. While at Episcopal Divinity School, Dalton-Thompson spent two years as part of an international team translating and editing the French-language edition of “The Book of Common Prayer.”

Mark Weisenreder, senior warden of the Church of the Ascension, recalled that Father James was principally responsible for guiding the congregation in the installation of an impressive new pipe organ in its old wooden building, which has been in continuous use since 1885. Weisenreder also said that during his tenure, the church completed a renovation of the “Solarium” room adjacent to the Parish Hall.

Describing him as a charismatic preacher and a gifted musician, Weisenreder said Dalton-Thompson had also studied acting. He was known to be a fabulous cocktail-style piano player, who could sit down without a note in front of him and play Broadway tunes for hours. He was an accomplished organ player as well.

“He was an incredibly gifted person in so many ways: a talented musician and a gourmet chef who would often entertain at his home after worship services,” said Holy Trinity Pastor Jeff Laustsen, a colleague and friend. “He was a fantastic person with a great sense of humor. Above all, he was an amazing pastor to his parishioners. Whenever anyone was going into surgery, he would be there to pray

with them.

“As a colleague,” Laustsen added, “he was among the first people to welcome me when I arrived in Rockville Centre. He was always a great colleague, a great supporter and a real friend of Holy Trinity, who stood by the congregation when it went through difficult times. So, many at Holy Trinity are mourning him along with members of his former congregation and those who knew him in the community.”

Joe Lantini, a parishioner who was a dear friend of Father James, described him as a wonderful person who added much to the spiritual growth of not only his parish, but the entire Rockville Centre community when he was here, and also the Maine parish he was serving at the time of his death.

Dalton-Thompson is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Holly and Al Molinaro, of Windham, N.H.

A funeral Mass was held in Maine at the Saint Luke’s Cathedral in Portland, Maine on Monday. Plans for a memorial service in January in Rockville Centre have yet to be finalized.