Born on 20 January 1929 at Pala, Kerala, Thomas Koyipuram entered the Society on 1 Aug. 1950. He was ordained a priest on 24 March 1962 and took his Last Vows on 2 Februay 1966. He died on 2 Sept 2023 at St.Ann’s Hospital, Vijayawada. The first condolence message from a member of an Alumni Whatsapp group was “A saint is no more”, followed by “he was a simple, gentle, humble priest”. I would add: He was a mystic, artist, photographer, reader and a listener of international, national and local news through his small transistor in the past, and later, on TV.
Fr. Koyipuram came to Vinukonda, Andhra Pradesh, in 1966 and was appointed as the Assistant Parish Priest. He used only a bicycle as he did not know how to ride a motor cycle nor how to drive a jeep. He had to cross small streams and a big water tank known as ‘Gundla Kamma’ in his pastoral journey. He was a true Jesuit: he dared to go where others would not go, and where there was greater need. Soaked in the spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises he used things in so far as they led to God and to the good of the people. As parish priest for 16 years and as spiritual guide for 36 years, he preached and explained the Word of God in a simple style. He lived the beatitudes.
– P.S. Amalraj, SJ
