Reverend Frederic Joseph Harrer who served as a priest for 60 years in the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre died Aug. 21 at the Rockville Nursing Center after a long illness. He was 86 years old.

Born in Brooklyn on July 3, 1919, to the late Fred and Marie Huether Harrer, Father Harrer attended St. Martha's Parochial School in Ridgewood and Cathedral Minor Seminary in Brooklyn. He continued his studies for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. Father Harrer was ordained a priest at St. James Pro-Cathedral on April 3, 1945, by Bishop Thomas E. Molloy and his first assignment was as associate pastor at St. James Pro-Cathedral and the parish of St. Monica in Jamaica.

In 1948, Father Harrer moved to Long Island and the growing parish of St. Patrick in Bay Shore and, in 1961, was named an associate pastor at the Church of St. Dominic in Oyster Bay. In 1965, Father Harrer was transferred to Our Lady of Peace in Lynbrook and two years later, in 1967, he was named associate pastor at Holy Spirit Church in New Hyde Park.

Two years later, in 1969, Father Harrer was named pastor of Hicksville's Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. In 1976, as part of a cover story on Vatican II, a profile of the church was featured in Time Magazine. Titled "A Parish That Hopes and Copes," the article focused on the physical and structural changes in the parish under the leadership of Father Harrer. In the article, Father Harrer said he believed Vatican II "has given people a new challenge - to describe their faith not in the exercise of practices but in the depth of their soul." In his 21 years at St. Ignatius Loyola, Father Harrer completed three rounds of parish visits and was working on his fourth when he retired in 1990.

Father Harrer is survived by two sisters, Kathleen Clune of Levittown and Miriam Langan of Massachusetts.

A wake for Father Harrer was held on Aug. 23 at the Thomas F. Dalton Funeral Home in Hicksville. A Mass of Christian Burial took place on Aug. 24 at St. Ignatius Loyola Church and was followed by interment at St. Charles Cemetery.