Rt.
Reverend Monsignor Edward J. Connolly was born in
county Meath, Ireland, November 16, 1885, son of
Edward and Ann Downes Connolly. He attended the
National School of County Meath and St. Finian
Seminary in Ireland.
He
completed his last years of school at Kendrick
Theological Seminary, St. Louis. He was ordained
December 20, 1908 and said his first Mass at
Resurrection Catholic Church in Wellsville.
During
the sixty five years Msgr. Connolly was a priest, he
served seven bishops and was in three different
dioceses, while living in the rectory of Holy Rosary
Parish. His first priestly assignment was as assistant
at Holy Rosary. He was assistant at Monroe City for
four years and then was named assistant at St. Joseph
Parish at Edina. He returned to Holy Rosary as pastor
October 16, 1919.
In
May, 1920 he had ground broken for the present
parochial school. He did much of the manual labor,
especially helping to dig the basement with a horse
drawn scraper. Although the high school closed in
1966, the elementary school continues to be a monument
of Msgr. Connolly’s dedication to youth and its
religious education.
Msgr.
Connolly was named a Domestic prelate, giving him the
title of Monsignor in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The
Knights of Columbus constructed a gymnasium and
meeting room in 1954 and honored Msgr. Connolly by
naming it in his honor. He remained as pastor of Holy
Rosary Parish until 1965 when Father William Ludwig
was named pastor.
While
Msgr. Connolly devoted his life and service to his
adopted country, he retained his devotion to the land
of his birth. In 1967, grateful parishioners gave him
a trip “back home” as an expression of their
feelings for him.
Msgr.
Connolly died Sunday, December 16, 1973 at 5:45 a.m.
in St. Elizabeth Hospital, Hannibal, Mo. His epitaph
is not written in words, but in the school he built,
the church he guided, and the many lives he touched. |