Requiescat in Pace - The Rev. Dennis L. Sossi

Dennis LeGrand Sossi was born in Norfolk, Virginia on September 17th, 1942. Over the next 18 years he lived with his single mother and a foster brother and the moved frequently between Norfolk, Rochester, New York, and Southern California. He was baptized in 1953 and confirmed in 1954 at Saint Luke’s Church in Rochester, in the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. Upon graduation from high school in 1960, he declined a church-paid scholarship to college (because it came with the proviso that he would then attend Hobart Seminary) and moved back to Southern California.

There he worked for the Space and Defense Sector of TRW, Inc. Over the next 30+ years he worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle manned space flight programs, the Mariner (Venus), Viking (Mars) and Pioneer satellite programs; the Atlas, Titan, Minuteman missile programs and on the Space Defense Initiative (aka “Star Wars”). During those years, he also received his BS from Pepperdine University, served a tour in the Army during the Vietnam War, married his wife Chereen, and went to seminary.

He was received into the Anglican Catholic Church by the Rt. Rev. William deJarnette Rutherfoord in 1985 at the Church of the Ascension, Centreville, Virginia, where he later became a Licensed Lay Reader and Church Warden. He took a one-year leave of absence from his employment to attend Holyrood Seminary from January to December of 1988 where he graduated cum laude in the Class of 1989. He was an Adjunct Instructor at Hollyrood until its closing. 

He was ordained to the Diaconate on July 8, 1989, at Saint Thomas of Canterbury and to the Priesthood on March 31, 1990, at Saint Hilda of Whitby by Bishop Rutherfoord. He served as Priest-In-Charge of several parishes in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic States, including: Saint Hilda of Whitby, Washington, D.C.; Saint Aidan, Silver Spring, MD; Saint David, Charlottesville, VA; Saint Matthew (Addison Chapel), Seat Pleasant, MD; Saint Michael the Archangel, Frederick, MD, and St. Peter the Apostle in Christiansburg, VA where he later served as Rector until his retirement on October 31, 2011.

In addition to his service to the various parishes within the diocese, Fr. Sossi also served as Provincial and Diocesan Registrar, served as a member of the Provincial and Diocesan Constitution and Canons committees, as a member of the Provincial Administrative Council, as well as serving on various diocesan committees including the Executive and Standing committees.

Father Sossi lived out his final years in Blacksburg, Virginia with Chereen, his loving wife of almost 47 years.

Requiem mass will be held at the Church of the Ascension on October 5, 2024 at 11am.