Fr. John J. Corona’s time to die happened on March 26, 2025, when he made his passage from this world to the next. To the end, Fr. John maintained a grateful and spirit-filled heart.
Fr. John was born May 9, 1933, in Wappingers Falls, New York, to Emma Renzi Corona and John J. Corona, who had emigrated from the town of Cave near Rome, Italy. He was the fourth of five children. Fr. John sadly lost his father at a very young age. He and his siblings worked alongside their mother Emma to continue the family business.
Fr. John attended Siena College at Loudenville, New York, receiving his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1955. Following graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army,stationed first at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and later in Frankfurt, Germany, where he was assistant to the base chaplain. There, the satisfaction and enjoyment of counseling his military brothers reopened his heart to the desire to serve others in a more permanent and purposeful way, thoughts he had expressed from an early age.
Upon discharge from the Army, Fr. John returned to New York where he obtained employment at IBM. Still focused on serving the Lord, in 1967, Fr. John entered Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Divinity. He was ordained as a priest May 8, 1971, at his home parish, St. Mary’s, in Wappingers Falls, by Joseph Green, then Bishop of the Reno-Las Vegas diocese. Fr. John celebrated his first Mass on his birthday, May 9, 1971. It is fitting that his farewell Mass to his catholic community be celebrated on that special date.
Following ordination, Fr. John was assigned to St. Christopher Parish in North Las Vegas where he served as pastor for six years. In 1977, Bishop McFarland assigned Fr. John to St. Gall in Gardnerville where he served as a beloved pastor for 22 years, until his retirement in 1999. Notwithstanding retirement, Fr. John continued to serve parishioners not only at St. Gall but throughout Northern Nevada.
During his tenure at St. Gall, Fr. John not only helped grow the parish. from 200 to 400 families, but was also instrumental in raising the funds to build the current church facility and subsequently the pastoral center and offices. In October 2011, Fr. John was selected as one of the 150 most influential people in the 150 year history of Douglas County. He was even voted Mister October in the same year.
Fr. John was always generous with his time and talents not only at St. Gall but throughout the community, participating in special functions with pastors and members of non-Catholic churches. He was a proud Board member of the Douglas County Food Closet. With his loving dog and companion, Dante, Fr. John visited the sick at hospitals in Gardnerville and Carson City, also spending time at residential care centers, sharing love, laughter and comforting words to patients and residents, often with Dante on their lap. Fr. John enjoyed quoting Will Rogers, “If there are no dogs in heaven, I don’t want to go there.”
Fr. John’s legacy is one of love, faith, service and provider of spiritual guidance. His warm personality and engaging smile will be remembered by all who knew him. Fr. John was a true renaissance man, enjoying the arts, the opera, literature, travel and meaningful discussions on a variety of topics, including his beloved New York Yankees.
Fr. John was preceded in death by his parents as well as two sisters, Mary Meyer and Ann Volino. He is survived by his sister Rose Viglotti, brother Vincent Corona, 11 nieces and nephews and several grandnieces and grandnephews.
The family wishes to thank the physicians and surgeons who provided Fr. John’s professional care and most particularly the wonderful team of nurses and CNAs who lovingly cared for him to the end at Carson Tahoe Hospital.
One of Fr. John’s sayings at funeral masses, while looking over the white-haired attendees in the pews, was that he, and many of those at mass, are “on the runway”. He had been on that runway for some time and was finally allowed to take off.
A funeral Mass for Fr. John will be celebrated on May 9, 2025, at 11 a.m. at St. Gall, the church he built. In lieu of flowers, Fr. John requested that donations be made in his memory to St. Gall Catholic Church, 1343 Centerville Lane, Gardnerville, NV 89410 or to Catholic Relief Services, PO Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090.