From the Archives

When the name of Monsignor Raymond Harkin was mentioned among the clergy of the era, there was a chuckle, an acknowledgment of his intelligence, and a genuine admiration of his priesthood.

Born in El Reno in 1907, he started at Sacred Heart Academy and the family moved frequently with stops at Miami, Tulsa and Pawhuska.
 
A gifted musician, after graduation from high school, he immediately joined a band playing clarinet and saxophone. After one year and becoming painfully aware of the musician’s lament (little to no money), he and his bandmates all decided to attend the University of Oklahoma. Five years later he was granted a degree in law and in 1932 was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association.

However, the “Hound of Heaven” was relentless as he decided that a possible vocation to the priesthood should be explored.

He eventually was sent to the American College at Louvain in Belgium after polishing his Latin skills at Saint Gregory’s in Shawnee for one year.  Realizing that he was being called to serve as a priest, he was ordained on June 27, 1937, in his home parish of Immaculate Conception in Pawhuska by Bishop Kelley.

His first assignment was assistant at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.

Bishop Kelley was keenly aware of Father Harkin’s background and varied skill set. He appointed him as his secretary (when priests occupied that position) and with his knowledge of the law and organizational acumen he was invaluable.

Father David Monahan recalled that he could type 125 words per minute on a manual typewriter. It seems that he mastered whatever he was asked to undertake. When Bishop McGuinness was named the co-adjutor bishop due to the failing health of Bishop Kelley, he quickly named Harkin as his financial secretary for the diocese.

This trust and respect displayed by the bishops he had worked with and for led to his being named a monsignor first as a papal chamberlain in 1949 to a higher rank of domestic prelate in 1953. In 1965, Bishop Reed tapped him to be his vicar general and would remain so until the death of Bishop Reed in 1971. He was then asked to serve as diocesan administrator until a new bishop could be named.  

He had been named pastor of Saint Joseph Old Cathedral in Oklahoma City in 1961 and remained for 13 years. Coming to his new assignment entailed moving from the Bishop’s Mansion (affectionately known as the “Big House”) on 15th and Hudson where he had resided for 20 years. He lamented he had not received a gold watch upon his departure.

The downtown parish of Saint Joseph Old Cathedral rekindled his natural inclination toward the poor and interracial justice. He was asked by the new bishop, John Quinn, to design a program for those suffering from drug abuse which he gladly did. As physical ills began to plague him, he was given the less strenuous job as chaplain at Saint Joseph’s Children’s Home in 1973. There he resided until his death in 1983.

The Sooner Catholic’s obituary gave a glimpse into the man: “Railroads, Oklahoma University football and compassion for the poor were among Monsignor Harkin’s more notable characteristics. Once when a writer naively asked which team he would be rooting for in that week’s Notre Dame-Oklahoma football game, Monsignor Harkin replied promptly, ‘I would be for Oklahoma if they played the College of Cardinals.’”  

His sense of humor and knowledge of the oral history of the diocese was the stuff of legends. Storytelling came easily and he had a “huge warehouse of stories on most every aspect of the Oklahoma Church … and he had a gift for pithy and original descriptions,” as Father Monahan recalled. He firmly understood his role as a priest and he had no need or desire for possessions. 

In his instructions to be followed upon his demise he stated, “Father Lamb can distribute my clothing, if any, it is pretty ratty.”

Self-deprecating to the end he then added, “Hope to have $100 left for 50 Mass offerings for the repose of my soul. If I ain’t out by then, I probably ain’t coming out, or never got there.”

His life of service and goodness towards others was a model for priestly life. One tends to believe that he did indeed make it out of Purgatory.