The wake for Father C. Thomas Cleaton, senior priest-retired, will begin at 3 p.m. Oct. 3 with vespers in St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church, 2640 Stoney Ridge Road, Avon. Bishop Martin Amos, retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa, will preside with Father Joe Workman as the homilist.
Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost will celebrate Father Cleaton’s funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Oct. 4 in St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church. Father Russ Rauscher will be the homilist.
Father Cleaton, 77, died Sept. 26.
He was born on Aug. 2, 1948 to the late Charles and Jane (Winkler) Cleaton. Father Cleaton was educated at St. Mark School in Cleveland, St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Borromeo Seminary College in Wickliffe, and Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland.
Father Cleaton was ordained to the priesthood for service to the Diocese of Cleveland by Bishop James Hickey on June 14, 1975 in Holy Family Church, Parma.
His first assignment after ordination was as parochial vicar of St. Bridget of Kildare Parish in Parma. He was transferred on June 25, 1980, to serve as parochial vicar of Assumption of Mary Parish in Brook Park. On June 18, 1991, he was transferred to serve as parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Cleveland. Father Cleaton was appointed parochial vicar of St. Raphael Parish in Bay Village on June 18, 1996.
Four years later, on Feb. 15, 2000, he was named pastor of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Avon, where he served until his retirement on July 1, 2023.
During his 48 years of priesthood, those who knew him said Father Cleaton was kind, had a slow and steady approach to ministry and a great desire to be available to those entrusted in his care. They said he was quiet and reflective as he lived out his great love of the priesthood.
Interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park.