enter name and hit return
BIOGRAPHIES OF PRIESTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN LONG ISLAND- Pre 1949
FOLEY, REVEREND JOSEPH I.
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church (at Babylon)
A native Long Islander, the Rev. Father Joseph I. Foley, now pastor of
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Babylon, was born in Brooklyn, on June
21, 1898, soon after that metropolis of Long Island cities became a borough
of the Greater City of New York. A long period of se in his native borough
preceded his first assignment to a pastorate in Suffolk County, and his
three years at Shelter Island were a useful preparation for his assumption
of the cares oa large parish at Babylon, where for some years he has labored
with notable success, held in high respect and affection not only by his own
parishioners, but by all the people of that village and vicinity, without
distinction of creed or class.
A son of Daniel and Mary (Farnan) Foley, the young Joseph I. Foley,
feeling a vocation to the priesthood in his youth, attended St. John's
Seminary in his native Brooklyn, and after his graduation he was ordained at
that institution in 1922 by the Most Rev. Thomas E. Molloy. In that same
year he was assigned as a curate to the Church of St. Gregory in Brooklyn,
and there he served until 1937.
Father Foley's first pastorate was that othe Church of Our Lady of the
Isle, at Shelter Island, Suffolk County, far out at the eastern tip of Long
Island, where the waters of the Atlantic flow into the Peconic bays.
HOLZHEIMER, REVEREND ANTHONY L.
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Roman Catholic (at Lindenhurst)
Since his ordination, the Rev. Father Anthony L. Holzheimer's work as
a priest has been entirely in Long Island communities, and it was with great
satisfaction that the congregation of the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady
of Perpetual help at Lindenhurst received the appointment of this devoutly
religious man and able administrator as their pastor.
Father Holzheimer is a son of the late Frederick Holtzheimer and his
wife the former Caroline Ripperger, both of whom were natives of Brooklyn in
the days of the independent cityhood of that borough of Greater New York.
Anthony L. Holtzheimer was born in the city of New York on June 13, 1900,
but in 1910 the family moved to Brooklyn, where Frederick Holtzheimer
conducted a large laundry business. In that borough the young Anthony L. was
chiefly educated. It was there that he attended Cathedral College and
later, having felt a call to the priesthood, St. John's Seminary, where he
was ordained on December 23, 1923, by The Most Rev. Thomas E. Molloy, Bishop
of Brooklyn.
Following his ordination, and in the same year, Fr. Holtzheimer was
appointed curate at the church of Saints Joachim and Anne at Queens Village,
Queens County. Here remained until 1926, when he was made curate at the
church of Our Lady of The Cenacle at Richmond Hill in the Borough of Queens,
New York City. In 1931, he was transferred from Richmond Hill to Rosedale,
Long Island, where he became curate at St. Clare's Church, a post he was
destined to hold until 1947.
It was on May 15 in the latter year that Father Holtzheimer was
advanced to the pastorate of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in populous
Lindenhurst, where he succeeded the Rev. Father Paul Faustmann.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was established August 15, 1871 and
Father Schneider was the first pastor. The present school was erected in
1941 by Father Farrenkopf. Sisters of St. Dominic are the present teachers.
To the work and cares of this suburban parish in Suffolk County Father
Holtzheimer brings the qualities needed for successful, administration and
furthering of the work of religion, and from the cares of this charge he
finds relaxation and recreation at times in a game of golf, which he greatly enjoys.
* * * * * * *
JUDGE, REVEREND FATHER THOMAS J.
St. Hugh's Roman Catholic Church (at Huntington Station)
A native of Brooklyn, the Reverend Father Thomas J. Judge has served
numerous Long Island parishes as pastor during the major portion of his
clerical life. He is now pastor of St. Hugh's Roman Catholic Church at
Huntington Station.
Father Judge was born on November 27, 1877, the son of James and
Catherine (Lynch) Judge. His parents were natives of Ireland. The future
priest began his education in the public schools in the Greenpoint section
of Brooklyn. He prepared for the priesthood at St. Charles Ellicott City,
Maryland, and St. Joseph's Seminary, New York, and was ordained from St.
Bonaventure's Seminary, near Buffalo, New York, by Bishop Colton of Buffalo.
He first served the parishes of the Resurrection, the Holy Ghost, St.
Rose of Lima, Our Lady of Victory, St. Peters, Port Washington and St.
Francis Xavier as an assistant. Then he was at Our Lady of Grace, Fisher's
Island, and St. John's, Center Moriches, as pastor, before assuming the
pastorate of St. Hugh's in Huntington Station on July 8, 1943 .
Father Judge is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks and the Rotary Club.
* * * * * * *
KELLE, REV. EDWARD J.
Church of St. Agnes, Roman Catholic (at Greenport)
A native of Brooklyn, New York, the Rev. Edward J. Kelle is
comparatively a newcomer to Greenport, but not to Long Island, for he has
been curate or pastor in a number of churches in Kings and Nassau Counties
before coming to Suffolk, where his piety and truly Christian spirit have
already endeared him to his parishioners, while his ability as an
administrator of church affairs has won him the respect of the people of his
adopted community without regard to creed or class.
Born at Brooklyn on February 26, 1897, Edward J. Kelle was a son of
the late John Kelle, a factory superintendent in that borough of New York
City, and of his wife, Elizabeth (Snyder) Kelle, who, like her husband, was
a native of Brooklyn. The Young Edward J. attended St. Bridget's Parochial
School in his native place and went on to acquire his higher education at
St. John's College and high school, at St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn, and
at Fordham University in New York City, from which he received his degree of
Bachelor of Arts. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1923, at St.
John's Seminary. In that year he became curate at the Church of the Holy
Family on Thirteenth Street in Brooklyn, where he remained until 1933.
It was in 1933 that Father Kelle became assistant curate of St.
Patrick's Church at Glen Cove in Nassau County. There he served until 1944,
when he was sent to Manhattan Beach, New York City, as administrator of the
Church of St Margaret Mary. In June of the same year Father Kelle was given
the pastorate of the Church of St. Agnes at Greenport, Suffolk County, and
since September 29, 1948, he is in residence at the St. Philip Neri Church,
Greenport.
Father Kelle's parents are buried in St. John's Cemetery in Brooklyn,New York.
* * * * * * *
MAKOWSKI, REVEREND FRANCIS GEORGE
Church of our Lady of Ostrabrama, Roman Catholic (at Cutchogue)
Native of Long Island, the Reverend Father Francis George Makowski has
been a priest at Long Island Roman Catholic churches since the beginning of
his career. He is now pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Ostrabrama at
Cutchogue. Widely beloved as a priest, he has yet another reputation-in the
world of golf-being one of New York State's best players of this sport.
Father Makowski was born at Floral Park on November 1, 1897, the son
of the late Francis and of Victoria (Mazur) Makowski. His father, a native
of Poland, came to the United States when he was eighteen years old,
settling at Floral Park. He was a florist.. At his death he was buried at
Holy Rood Cemetery, Westbury, Long Island. Mrs. Makowski, born in Poland,
resides at New Hyde Park.
The family moved from Floral Park to New Hyde Park when Father
Makowski was less than two years old. Reared in that community, he began his
education in its public schools. In preparation for the priesthood, he then
studied at St. John Kanty College, Erie, Pennsylvania, from which he was
graduated in 1918. In September, 1918, he entered St. John's Seminary, at
Brooklyn, completing a course in philosophy and theology, and on December
23, 1923, was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
From January, 1924, to January, 1929, Father Makowski served as curate
at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, in Patchogue. Next, he was
curate at the Church of the Holy Cross, Maspeth, from January, 1929, to
July, 1946. He was then transferred to St. Joseph's Church, Bayside, which
he served as administrator until October 15, 1946, when he was appointed
pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, in Cutchogue.
Father Makowski is a charter member of the Knights of Columbus at
Floral Park. He is also a member of the Pomonok Country Club at Flushing,
where he spends his leisure time on the golf links. his reputation as a
golfer has been made by consistently playing in the low seventies.
* * * * * * *
McLAUGHLIN, D.D., REV. PATRICK J.
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church (in Southold)
Pastor of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Southold, Reverend
Father Patrick J. McLaughlin, D.D., was educated partly at Rome, and was
ordained in the Holy City. He has also been professor of theology at
Immaculate Conception Seminary at Huntington.
Father McLaughlin was born in Derry, Ireland. In 1916 he came to the
United States with his parents, the late Patrick and Margaret (Clarke)
McLaughlin. The family settled in Brooklyn. The parents now lie buried in
Holy Cross Cemetery in that borough.
The future priest had begun his education in his native community. He
continued in Brooklyn and later attended Cathedral College there. In 1922
and 1923 he was at Mount St. Mary's Seminary at Emmitsburg, Maryland. From
1923 to 1928 he attended North American College in Rome as an undergraduate
student. From 1929 to 1930 he was a postgraduate student at the same
college. In 1928, he was ordained within sight of the Vatican.
Returning to the United States in 1930, Father McLaughlin became
professor of theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Huntington. There
he remained until 1943 when he was named Pastor of St. Patrick's in
Southold. Father McLaughlin is a member of the Emmitsburg, Maryland, Council
of the Knights of Columbus. For recreation he takes long walks and indulges
in archery.
* * * * * * *
McPHEE, REVEREND FATHER JOHN A.
Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church (at Bridgehampton)
He was the pastor of the Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church at
Bridgehampton at the time of his death.
He was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on February 23, 1895, the son
of Alexander and Mary (Claire) McPhee, both of whom were natives of Prince
Edward Island, Dominion of Canada. The father was a ship's captain in his
early days, but later followed the trade of carpenter. Father McPhee was the
last survivor of ten children.
The future priest was taken to Prince Edward Island by his parents
when he was still a young boy. He began in the Dominion schools on the
island the long education and training that terminated in his ordination. He
continued his education at St. James Academy in Brooklyn, later going to the
Brooklyn Preparatory School. In 1916, he was graduated from St. John's
University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He concluded his studies at
St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn. On February 28, 1920, at Brooklyn, Father
McPhee was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.
All his assignments were as assistant curate. He held such curacies at
St. Matthew's Church, Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, from 1920
to 1922; the Church of the Assumption, Brooklyn, 1922 to 1929; St. Andrew's
Church, Brooklyn, 1930 to 1939; the Church of the Precious Blood, at
Astoria, 1939 to 1941, and the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, at Cypress
Hills, from 1941 to 1944. In September, 1944, he was made pastor of the Holy
Rosary Church in Bridgehampton.
Father McPhee was a member of the Columbia Council, Knights of
Columbus, in Brooklyn.
* * * * * * *
MURRAY, RT. REV. MONSIGNOR THOMAS F.
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, (in Huntington)
The year 1948 was exceptionally notable in the life of the Rt. Rev.
Monsignor Thomas F. Murray, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Huntington, for
it marked the fortieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood; the
twenty-fourth year of his service of St. Patrick's Parish, and his elevation
to the rank of Domestic Prelate by His Holiness, Pope Pius XII.
Monsignor Murray was born in Albany, New York, on July 31, 1881, the
youngest of the five children of James and Mary (Heaney) Murray. His father,
a stone mason, was a native of Illinois. His mother was born in New York
City. The family moved to Brooklyn in 1889, where he attended St.Joseph's
Parochial School (Pacific Street). Upon his graduation with honors from St
Francis High School and College, Brooklyn, he entered St. John's Diocesan
Seminary in 1903 and was ordained by Bishop Charles E. McDonnell on April
25, 1908 at St. John the Baptist Church, Brooklyn. His first appointment was
at St. Thomas Aquinas Church (Ninth Street), where he served as an assistant
until 1916. On March 24th of that year, he was assigned as curate to St.
Patrick's Church (Kent Avenue). His first pastorate came on December 21,
1917, when he was appointed to St. Anne's Church at Brentwood, Long Island.
At that same time he became also the chaplain of St. Joseph's Convent and
Academy in Brentwood. Here the Most Reverend Bishop Molloy authorized him to
build St. Anne's Parochial School which was completed in 1923 and opened in
September of that year.
On February 11, 1924, Monsignor Murray was appointed to St. Patrick's,
Huntington, and came to his new parish on March 1st, to become its fourth
pastor, a position he has ably filled for the past twenty-four years.
A most able pastor, administrator and educator, St. Patrick's has
grown greatly under his ministrations, in properties, buildings and
services, religious and educational, rendered the parish. All this in
addition to spiritual growth. The parochial school had more than four
hundred and fifty pupils in 1948. Indicating the appreciation of the career
of Monsignor Murray by the church is the following letter, written about
the occasion of his elevation to the rank of Domestic Prelate by Pope Pius
XII, on February 3, 1948;
March 25, 1948.
Dear Monsignor Murray:
It is indeed a source of genuine gratification to announce to you that
our Holy Father has graciously deigned to confer upon you the dignity of
Domestic Prelate, with the title of Right Reverend Monsignor, and I am
pleased to present at this time the Papal Brief of official designation.
This ecclesiastical honor is bestowed in recognition of your notable
priestly zeal in promoting the sanctification of souls and of your very
faithful devotion to the advancement of works of religion, education and
charity.
Permit me to extend to you most cordial felicitations in recognition
of this well merited distinction which you have received from the Supreme
Pastor of Christendom. I desire also to express the prayerful hope that you
will be favored with future years of divine blessing and aid in your
priestly labors so as to relize a rich spiritual fruitage in your holy
ministry and merit divine approval and reward in time and in eternity.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Thomas E. Molloy
BISHOP OF BROOKLYN.
* * * * * * *
NICHOLS, REVEREND JOSEPH V.
Church of St. Martin of Tours, Roman Catholic (at Amityville)
For a quarter of a century the Rev. Father Joseph V. Nichols has been
a shepherd of souls in the Roman Catholic faith, and his various assignments
have been without exception to parishes in one part or another of Long
Island of which indeed he is a native, having been born in the old city of
Brooklyn on Febrary 14, 1896, shortly before that city became a borough of
the Greater New York. Father Nichols' father, the late Frank J. Nichols, was
also a native of Brooklyn, but his mother, Mrs. Anna (Logan) Nichols, was
born in Dublin, Ireland, where both her parents were teachers in private schools.
The young Joseph V. Nichols attended and graduated from the St.
Francis Xavier High School, a noted Jesuit institution on West Sixteenth
Street in the City of New York, but from there he went to the College of St.
Francis Xavier in the Borough of Brooklyn. His inclination toward the
religious life being manifest at this time, he entered St. John's Seminary
in Brooklyn, and there he was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1923. In
that same year he became curate at the Church of the Epiphany in his native borough.
In 1924 Father Nichols was transferred to the Church of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, still in Brooklyn, and here he remained as curate until February,
1935. At that time he was appointed curate at St. Hugh's Church at
Huntington Station, remaining there until June, 1936. He then became curate
at the Church of St. Benedict Joseph at Richmond Hill in the Borough of
Queens, city of New York, remaining there until April, 1946, when he was
appointed pastor of the Church of St. Martin of Tours at Amityville. A
devout priest and an experienced and able administrator. Father Nichols
continues to the present time in charge of this important parish.
* * * * * * *
ROEX, FATHER JOHN H. J.
The Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church (in Port Jefferson)
Father John H. J. Roex has been pastor for over a quarter of a
century, has found a steady growth under his spiritual guidance.
He was born in Holland, September 17, 1878, and was ordained June 17,
1905, at Oirschot, North Brabant, Holland. In 1943 a high mass, at which the
Reverend John Roex, S.M.M., was the celebrant, was in observance of the
twenty-fifth anniversary of his pastoral guidance of the parish of the
Infant Jesus Church. As a tribute to the esteem and respect in which the
pastor is held by his parishoners, he was the recipient of many gifts, among
these a set of theological books for his library, and a silvered parchment
scroll appropriately decorated by the Sisters of St. Charles Hospital,
containing the names of parishioners and friends who made the program
possible, and presented by the Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus.
Recently a new parish school of the Infant Jesus was completed, the
splendid building representing twenty years of work and sacrifice on the
part of the parishoners of Infant Jesus Church, and especially of the
Pastor, Reverend Roex, who early in his pastorate set about the task of
collecting a reserve fund for the erection of a school. When the Father
first went to Port Jefferson in 1918, his congregation consisted of a few
townspeople and a small group of farmers from the surrounding localities.
The parish was burdened with debt, and its church and rectory badly in need
of improvements. Through careful administration, and by hard work, often
even manual labor, Father Roex undertook the difficult task before him. At
personal sacrifice, he succeeded in relieving the parish debt, making much
needed improvements, beautifying the grounds, and purchasing additional land
for future development. The school is the growing reward of the hopes and
dreams of the pastor and his parishioners. The school is in charge of the
Daughters of Wisdom who have won a high place of esteem and affection with
the towns-people by their charity in caring for the afflicted children at
St. Charles Hospital. The State School Bus service assures the advantages of
Catholic education to all children of the parish, even those who live in the
outlying farm districts. The structure is a one-story brick building with
four classrooms, a large playground, and an auditorium with a seating
capacity of three hundred. Reverend John Roex can take justifiable pride in
both the architectural beauty of the school as an ornament to the community,
and the deeper cultural and educational benefits resulting from his
sacrifice and foresight.
* * * * * * *
SHARP, REVEREND JOHN K.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (in Manhasset)
Pastor of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Manhasset, has for over
thirty years rendered distinguished service to the congregations to which he
has been called. He is also recognized among the Catholic clergy and laity
as an author, having written a number of books and contributed extensively
to periodicals.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1892, Father Sharp was ordained a priest
of the Roman Catholic Church by Cardinal Gibbons at the Baltimore Cathedral
in 1918, for the Diocese of Brooklyn. He served in that diocese on the
mission, and in teaching capacities for a period of two decades. Since 1939,
he has been pastor of St. Mary's Church in Manhasset. Father Sharp is the
author of seven books, one of which is "a History of the Catholic Church on
Long Island."
* * * * * * *
Source: LONG ISLAND A History of Two Great
Counties Nassau and Suffolk.
Personal and Family History Volume III
Publisher: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc.-New York.
Copyright: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. 1949
_____________________________________________
This completes the Biographies of Priests of the Roman Catholic Churches in
Long Island.
Researched and Transcribed by Miriam Medina
Back To WORSHIP Main
Back To BROOKLYN Main