It might be easy to begin by remembering Father Phillip Marian Tighe as a priest who served in the Diocese of Raleigh for 20 years and director of the Office of Vocations. He was however, so much more, to so many people.
Fr. Tighe was born November 18, 1962, in Anniston, Alabama, to John Joseph Tighe and Jean Patricia Harrigan Tighe. He was the youngest of seven children, and spent most of his childhood in Southern Pines, North Carolina. As a boy he enjoyed the outdoors, where he could be found fishing, mowing the grass and playing sports such as football and tennis. With a great appreciation for music, he played the trombone in school band and also learned to play piano, a skill his grandmother helped him to hone.
Fr. Tighe earned a B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel (Charleston, South Carolina) in 1985 and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1990. He worked for Merrill Lynch in Charleston and later, IBM in Raleigh, NC however a vocation to the priesthood was on his mind. In 1998 he began his formal discernment at the Theological College of The Catholic University of America, D.C. where he earned a Master's of Divinity.
He was ordained to the priesthood June 24, 2000, at Sacred Heart Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
As a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh in Eastern North Carolina, Fr. Tighe served as Parochial Vicar at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Cary (2000-2002) before traveling to Bolivia for a Spanish language immersion program. He worked at Immaculate Conception Parish and its missions near Clinton (2003 – 2005), Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Rocky Mount (2005 – 2007), St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Wake Forest (2007 – 2018) and the Doggett Center at N.C. State University in Raleigh. In 2016 he was appointed Diocesan Vocations Director for the Diocese of Raleigh, a role he held until his death.
As the Vocations Director, Fr. Tighe hosted events such as Pints and Prayers, soccer games and hiking excursions promoted on social media and geared at encouraging young men to be open to the call of the priesthood. Is it any wonder that his love for the outdoors led to golf also becoming a favored recreational past-time.
