Priest's death stuns church community

When the Dexter family of Port Jefferson got news that one of their favorite priests, the Rev. Samuel Aririatu, 62, died Tuesday in a one-car crash on the Southern State Parkway, they were devastated. It was as if they had lost a member of their own family, Ginny Dexter said.

Ginny Dexter has been a parishioner at Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church for more than 20 years. Her husband, Chris, virtually grew up in the Port Jefferson church, attending its elementary school. Their daughter, Jillian, 13, is an altar server.

And Aririatu, known as Father Sam, the family said, was part of the rich fabric of the Infant Jesus community. "He was a beautiful man, loving and caring," Ginny Dexter said Thursday. "Our whole church is unbelievably sad."

Aririatu, of Riverhead, was killed when he lost control of his sport-utility vehicle on the parkway, near Exit 31, and struck a tree about 11:25 a.m., State Police said. He was the vehicle's only occupant and pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital in Bethpage, police said.

In its release, police said Aririatu "lost control for unknown reason, and entered the right shoulder, before striking a tree."

Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre said in a statement he was "deeply saddened" by Aririatu's death. "He has served at Saint Charles Hospital with a sensitive and compassionate care for the sick," Murphy said. "In that he reflected the call of Jesus."

The release said Aririatu was ordained in his native Nigeria in 1979 and from 2003 to this June he was the chaplain at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. In addition to his duties as chaplain, he also served the parishioners of Infant Jesus, Ginny Dexter said, often celebrating Mass. "He was a wonderful, gracious, spiritual man," said Chrissy McHale, secretary at Infant Jesus. "Always smiling, always singing."

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When Aririatu was reassigned in June to be chaplain at Peconic Medical Center, Dexter said she thought her family would lose touch with him. But he still found time to visit their church often, and her husband said he saw him recently in a Port Jefferson drugstore. "He still managed to stay close to us and our church," she said.

Dexter said Father Sam had a "good sense of humor" and a way of communicating that came across as more down to earth. "He seemed to speak to us in layman's terms," she said.

Funeral arrangements are pending, said a spokeswoman at St. Isidore's Church in Riverhead.