OCEAN ISLE BEACH — Father Carl Thomas Del Giudice Jr., 79, passed away Aug. 24, 2026. His ministry spanned parishes throughout western North Carolina, much of it spent at Sacred Heart in Brevard.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated Aug. 31, 2026, at St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church in Shallotte. Interment will take place at a later date in the family plot at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Tenafly, New Jersey.
Father Del Giudice was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, on January 28, 1947, a son of the late Carl Thomas Del Giudice Sr. and Ruth Elizabeth Sundberg Del Giudice.
He attended the Academy of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tenafly, New Jersey, and Tenafly Senior High School. He felt called to the priesthood at a young age and had a lifelong love of learning, yet he chafed at formal schooling and left high school at 16. He later earned his high school equivalency and moved to Boone, North Carolina, to attend Appalachian State University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban planning. There, he fell in love with North Carolina and its people. After college, he took a position with the City of Wilmington, but soon felt the call to the priesthood again.
He entered Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Charlotte on May 30, 1981, by Bishop Michael Begley.
Over 37 years of priestly ministry, he served at: St. Eugene in Asheville (1981-82), St. Benedict in Greensboro (1982-83), Our Lady of Mercy in Winston-Salem (1983), Our Lady of the Annunciation in Albemarle (1983-86), St. Francis of Assisi in Franklin (1986-88), St. Mary Mother of God in Sylva (1989-91), Sacred Heart in Brevard (1991-2012), and Our Lady of Consolation in Charlotte (2012-18). He also served at the former Our Lady of the Hills Camp in Hendersonville (1981).
Surviving are his brother, Frank J. Del Giudice and wife Nancy; two nieces, Andrea Del Giudice and husband Matthew Butram, and Nicole Del Giudice and husband Kevin Prescilla; and grand-nieces and grand-nephews Levi, Ian, Iris, Alice and Kevin Jr.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to one’s local parish.
Brunswick Funeral Services in Shallotte is serving the Del Giudice family.
— Catholic News Herald