San Diego (CNS)-The legendary San Diego priest, Father Joe Carroll, confirmed on Sunday after battling diabetes that he established a nationally renowned non-profit organization to help the homeless for the past 80 years. year old.

A spokesperson said that Carol died Saturday night at a hospice home in the East Village because of complications from a long-term struggle with diabetes.

“Although I personally feel sad about the death of Father Joe Carroll, I fondly remember the stories and laughter we shared, and his legacy will continue to exist in everything we do,” Dickon Jim Vargas, President and Chief Executive Officer Father Joe’s Village, Said in a statement. “Father Joe has selflessly and tirelessly served our community for more than 30 years. We celebrate his life.”

From 1982 to his retirement in 2011, Carroll served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Vincent de Paul Village. To commemorate him, the village was renamed “Father Joe’s Village” in 2015. His eponymous organization has helped thousands of homeless residents find shelter, medical assistance, child care, housing and other resources since he took over nearly 40 years ago.

As United TribuneIt all started in the 1980s when Carol distributed peanut butter sandwiches in the city center.

Carol once stated that he wanted to provide more than 1.7 million meals to those in need, so he held a fund-raising contest. The 5K game became an annual tradition in Balboa Park on Thanksgiving. Runners who raise more than $100 will receive a collection of Father Joe’s head dolls.

In 2019, San Diego State University awarded Carroll an honorary degree in the Humanities and Letters in recognition of his lifelong dedication to the underserved communities in San Diego.

Carol was born in New York, but moved to Southern California when he was in his 20s. He studied at St. John’s Theological Seminary in Camarillo, Ventura County, where he was expelled for paying too much attention to material gains while running the seminary bookstore.

So Carol moved to San Diego, completed his studies at the University of San Diego and was appointed in 1974. He worked in the Catholic Church of Santa Rita in Valencia Park, and was then appointed the head of the Saint Vincent de Paul thrift store downtown, where he would find his true mission and build his own legacy.

He turned a parking lot near the store into a center for the homeless, and worked hard to acquire other properties near San Diego to create a “one-stop shop” that can integrate services for the homeless. According to UT, in the following years, he established a strong fundraising campaign. By the time he retired, the organization had employed nearly 500 employees with a budget of 40 million US dollars.

“Fr Joe Carroll is a priest who makes the message of Christ’s sympathy and mercy a reality in a world where we often see the suffering among us in another way instead of embracing them,” the Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop Robert W. McElroy (Robert W. McElroy) wrote. San Diego. “Given the revitalization of our diocese’s outreach activities for the homeless four years ago, he completely recreated the outreach activities and provided San Diego with an incredible network of projects.”

The public was invited to leave flowers and messages for Father Joe in the designated space between 15th Street and 16th Street on Empire Avenue in the village’s Joan Crocker Center.

A spokesperson said that the private funeral will be held with close friends and family.

Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.