By Gia Myers • Posted December 12, 2025

Deacon Thomas Croke sees his new and pioneering role as Parish Life Director at Holy Martyrs Parish in Oreland as both a responsibility and an opportunity to breathe new life into a parish that has endured over a decade of transition and loss.

He is one of three men chosen for the inaugural cohort of Parish Life Directors, a new role in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Deacon Croke still lives in the same Glenside home where he grew up as one of 11 children.

A lifelong Catholic educated in local schools, he attended St. Luke the Evangelist School in Glenside, La Salle College High School and later La Salle University.

After college, Deacon Croke served in the U.S. Marine Reserves before pursuing a law degree in Massachusetts. There, he and his wife, Pamela – also a lawyer – practiced together for seven years before returning to Glenside to raise their five children in his childhood home.

Eventually, he transitioned into a successful career in title insurance and real estate, balancing his professional life with deep involvement in parish ministry.

Ordained as a permanent deacon in 2002, Deacon Croke has now served 23 years at his home parish of St. Luke. Even after retiring from full-time work in late 2021, he continued consulting part-time and volunteering on several boards. Then came a phone call from a friend that would change his direction once more.

“It was about this new position in the archdiocese called Parish Life Director,” he recalled. “I looked at the job description and realized I could bring a lot of tools to the job; my legal and business background, and of course, over two decades as a deacon.”

Located just two miles from his home, Holy Martyrs Parish was a familiar place to Deacon Croke, who grew up knowing the community well. “The people have changed, but I’m familiar with the town,” he said.

Today, Holy Martyrs Parish counts roughly 2,500 members, about 800 registered families. But the past 15 years have been difficult ones.

The parish school closed, many young families migrated to nearby parishes in eastern Montgomery County, and the community dealt with the retirement of its beloved pastor, Father Michael Ryan.

Hope and excitement for his successor as pastor, Father Jason Kulczynski, was followed by mourning for his sudden death in January 2024. Father Kulczynski collapsed during Mass just after consecrating the Eucharist, a moment that deeply affected the parish.

In the wake of these challenges, the Saturday Vigil Mass was discontinued, and the Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) for Catholic children was suspended. Yet rather than seeing decline, Deacon Croke sees potential for revival.

He has set ambitious goals, including reinstating the Saturday Vigil Mass with confessions beforehand by January 2026. He’s also collaborating with two educators to create new religious education programs for children ages 4 to 7.

“We’re beginning to institute some programs with the hope that if we can get the kids and young families to come back, we can build from there,” he said.

Community traditions remain a cornerstone of parish life. For more than 50 years, Holy Martyrs has hosted a popular Fall Fair every September, attracting thousands from surrounding townships. “It’s known throughout the surrounding area,” Deacon Croke said proudly.

The parish also has an annual spaghetti supper each November and celebrates its volunteers with an annual appreciation dinner.

This year, the appreciation dinner included Augustinian priests from Villanova University and Vincentian priests from the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Germantown, who assist with Masses. “The priests enjoyed it, and the parishioners enjoyed talking with them in a more relaxed setting,” Deacon Croke noted.

The parish is also home to an extensive collection of relics gathered by the late Father Kulczynski. They fill an entire room, and are available for viewing by appointment.

“I would love for folks to come and see this,” Deacon Croke said. “Anything we can do to raise the profile of Holy Martyrs, we’re doing. It can only help us.”

Deacon Croke reflects on the vocation that draws him to serving in parish ministry.

“I felt a calling,” he said. “I would be delinquent not to answer the call. I knew I had a skill set that matched this (ministry).”

For Deacon Croke, leadership at Holy Martyrs is more than administration. It’s a vocation rooted in faith, community, and renewal.

“This work fulfills me,” he said, “in ways other roles I’ve had didn’t quite meet.”