1935 – 2000 (September 2)
Robert Thomas Drummond, one of four children of Charles Drummond and Mary Elizabeth McLaughlin, was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. on November 27, 1935. He attended St. Bernard School in Fitchburg, and Immaculate Conception Grammar School in Lowell. In 1950, he entered Keith Academy in Lowell, and graduated in June 1954. From 1954 to 1956 he attended Merrimack College, North Andover, Mass, but interrupted his college career by entering the active army on November 30, 1956. When he separated from the armed service on September 4, 1958, he continued his studies at Merrimack. In 1961, he graduated from the Massachusetts Military Academy with the rank of second lieutenant, and that same year became a post graduate postulant at the Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York. On September 8, 1962, he was received into the novitiate, professed first vows on September 10, 1963, and made solemn profession three years later. In 1964, he graduated from Villanova University. He pursued theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, D.C., where he was ordained to the priesthood on September 9, 1967.
In 1968, Father Drummond received his first assignment to Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, Bronx, N.Y., where he ministered in the parish for one year and then twelve years in the high school. At the same time he continued his career in the military. In 1969, he was sworn in as a 1st LT Chaplain in the New York National Guard to serve as assistant chaplain for the 42nd Inf. Div. Arty at the Kingsbridge Armory. In 1982, he was assigned as an assistant at the Catholic Chapel of the West Point, Military Academy, N.Y. In 1988, Father Drummond was granted a transfer from the Army National Guard of New York to Active Duty with the United States Army and assigned as chaplain at the Academy. In 1995, Father retired as chaplain and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.
In 1996, he was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island, N.Y. Two years later, due to ill health, he was transferred to the health care unit at St. Thomas Monastery, Villanova, Pa., where he died a peaceful death on September 2, 2000. Father Drummond lived his religious life and his priestly ministry to the fullest. At the same time he was able to serve his country in many ways, a passion he had since his days as a teenager. He was always accommodating to people in his ministry as a priest and in his role as a career military person. He would celebrate Masses in many different areas in one day to help out his fellow priests or the people. His many awards and decorations bear witness to his prestige in the military community and to his service to humanitarian needs. At his request Father is laid to rest in his military uniform in Borne National Cemetery, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
