Rev. Thomas A. Peyton, M.M.

Father Thomas A. Peyton died on May 9, 2025 in the Skilled Nursing Unit at Maryknoll, New York. He was 93 years old and a Maryknoll priest for 66 years.

Thomas Anthony Peyton was born in San Mateo, California on September 19, 1931, to John and Emma Ribak Peyton.  He was one of three sons.  He attended Holy Spirit grammar school and Loyola High School, both in Los Angeles.  His first knowledge of Maryknoll was when he was 12 years old, reading A Field Afar.  After graduation from high school, he entered Maryknoll in Glen Ellyn, Illinois on November 15, 1949. He received his Masters in Religious Education from Maryknoll Seminary in Maryknoll, New York in 1958 and was ordained a priest on June 14, 1958.  

After ordination, Father Peyton was assigned to higher studies which led him to obtain a doctorate in English from the University of Ottawa, Canada in 1963.  In 1959, Father Peyton was assigned to the faculty at the Venard, and in 1963, was transferred to the faculty at Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  He took a position in 1971 at Williams College as a professor of humanities and also worked with a religious education community which sought to explore new expressions in Christian living and service.  In August 1975, Father Peyton became Director of Ministry for Justice & Peace for the National Federation of Priests’ Councils (NFPC) in Chicago, Illinois. The President of the NFPC wrote of Father Peyton, “His work has grown out of the vision of the Maryknoll Order in bringing home the experience that has been theirs in the mission fields.  He has so beautifully fulfilled his task, and he will be sorely missed.”  

Father Peyton continued with the NFPC until he was assigned to the Hong Kong Region in January 1982. There he was welcomed to work at the Center for the Progress of Peoples.  His first year and a half was spent in Cantonese language study while residing in two Chinese parishes.  In 1983, he was assigned to open a new parish, St. Matthew, in Tuen Mun, Butterfly Estate, New Territories. 

In the early 1990s, Father Peyton began ministry to those suffering from Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) in mainland China. Each year his team (China Apostolate to Lepers) visited leper villages in Western and Southwestern China.  He worked with a broader Catholic Coalition to better the living conditions in these villages.  In reflecting upon his work, Father Peyton said, “I am struck by their great patience and their perseverance in the face of so many obstacles to health. They are models for us to emulate in dealing with our own weaknesses and in being strong despite physical and emotional handicaps.”

Father Peyton was elected Regional Superior of Hong Kong in 1994 and, as a confirmation by his peers of his great missionary spirit and service, was re-elected in 1997.  He became Pastor of Christ the Worker Parish in Kowloon in 2000 and was also a prison chaplain and the supervisor of two Maryknoll High Schools.  He remained as Pastor until 2011, then continued working at the parish as an Associate Pastor, while continuing his involvement in the China Apostolate and as chaplain at the Maryknoll Secondary School.

In 2012, Father Peyton was honored as one of the recipients of the Hong Kong Humanity Award, given in recognition of his more than 30 years serving the needy in prisons, hospitals, streets, countryside and the isolated and deprived communities in both Hong Kong and mainland China. 

Father Peyton returned to the United States in late 2016 and was assigned to the Senior Missioner Community in January 2017. He resided at the Society Center in Maryknoll, New York.

Wake services were held on May 15, 2025 in the Holy Spirit Chapel and the Queen of Apostles Chapel at the Maryknoll Society Center.  Mass of Christian Burial followed at 11:00 a.m. and was concelebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel.  Father Alfonso Kim was the Celebrant and homilist.  Father Peter Barry read the biography and Father John McAuley read the Oath.  Interment in the Maryknoll Society Columbarium followed immediately after the Mass, with Father Juan Zuñiga presiding at the Columbarium prayers.
 
Each Maryknoll priest is requested to offer Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Peyton; all Maryknollers are requested to remember him in their private and public prayers.