A Brief Biography on the Very Rev. Dario Palasi
By  LBS

[This was supposed to be read before the slide presentation on
Fr. Palasi's 20 years of Episcopal Church Ministry,
at the Parish Hall, St. John’s Episcopal Church, on Oct. 21, 2006.]

Dario was baptized at  St. Jude's Episcopal Church of  Bangao  established by the Philippine Episcopal Church to minister to the residents of  the strategically located and thriving vegetable producing town of  Buguias.

In 1979, Dario graduated  from St. Mary's High School, Sagada, Mt. Province, a school started in 1904 by the Rev. John A Staunton - then 34 years old and former Rector of St. Peter's church in Springfield, Massachussets. This one hundred years Episcopal Church school prides itself as the alma mater of  quite a number of Igorot professionals, many of  whom found gainful employment overseas - mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe.

For his college education, Dario enrolled at Trinity College of Quezon City earning for himself an Associate in Arts degree in 1981. Trinity College, established in 1963 during  the Rt. Rev. Lyman C  Obilby's tenure as Bishop of the Philippine Episcopal Church, was named after Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut  whose president then was Bishop Ogilby's father.

After graduation from Trinity College of Quezon City, Dario enrolled at St. Andrew's Theological Seminary, also in Quezon City and graduated Bachelor of Arts in Theology in 1985. St. Andrews Seminary was established in 1932 by the American Missionaries to prepare Filipinos  interested in becoming Anglican priests. After the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA entered into a concordat relationship with the Philippine Independent Church in 1947,  St. Andrew’s Seminary, likewise, opened its doors to Filipinos training for the priesthood under the Philippine Independent Church.

Dario was ordained to the Deaconate on March 11, 1986 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Saytan, La Union; and to the priesthood in October 28, 1986 at St. Jude's Episcopal Church, Bangao, Buguias, Benguet  by The Rt. Rev. Manuel Lumpias, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North-Central Philippines. 

The Rev. Dario Palasi's  Philippine ministry was mainly under the Episcopal Diocese of North-Central Philippines where he served in various capacities including:

• Deacon, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Saytan, La Union, Philippines.
  March 13, 1986 to October 27, 1986

• Vicar, Ascension Mission, Kapangan, Benguet, Philippines.
  November, 1988 to June 1989

• Dean, La Trinidad-Kapangan Deanery, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines. April, 1990 to February 1992

• Administrator, Episcopal Montessori Center, La Trinidad, Benguet Philippines
  July 1989 to February 1992

• Rector, Holy Guardian Angels, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines
  July, 1989 to February, 1992

Sometime in 1989, the Rev. Dario Palasi mustered enough courage to propose marriage to the fair maiden which his heart has long been secretly longing for, aching for and dying for - Catherine Taclobao. Catherine finally capitulated to Fr. Palasi's honorable advances and so she became Mrs. Palasi on December 28, 1989.

Catherine, a nurse, eventually found employment at the Elmhurst Hospital in New York; and to keep close to his family, The Rev. Dario Palasi followed her arriving in the United States on February 12, 1992.

Desirous of pursuing employment in New York along the lines of  his training and experience in the Philippines, The Rev. Palasi enrolled in courses related to his profession including:

• Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, Mercer School of Theology, Garden City, New York, Fall, 1998; and
• Home Away from Home course, Mercer School of Theology, Garden City, New York, Fall, 2000.

Subsequently, The Rev Dario Palasi found himself serving as:

• Supply priest at the Diocese of Long Island, New York
  June 1992 to October, 1998;
• Supply Priest, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, College Point, New York
  November, 1998 to October, 1999; and
• School Chaplain, St. Paul's School, College Point, New York
  November, 1998 to October, 1999;
• Associate Priest, St. John's Episcopal Church, Flushing, Queens, New York
  November, 1998 to the present.
• Dean of the Flushing, Queens Deanery.
  July 1, 2006 to the present.

The Rev. Palasi and Catherine are happily married with three children: Daphne Kate (13 years old); Daryl Keith (10 years old) and Blanche Kathryn (5 years old) as of this writing - July 1, 2006..