By Catholic News Service  CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

NEW YORK — Franciscan Father James E. Goode, whose evangelizing work among Black Catholics became known throughout the United States and earned him the title “dean of Black Catholic preachers,” died in his sleep March 4 in New York. He was 81.

According to the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception in Manhattan, Goode, who was a member of the province, had been seriously ill for some time. He most recently resided at Mary Manning Walsh Home in Manhattan.