Mennis, Rev Michael

REV. MICHAEL MENNIS

July 29, 1937

Personal Info

  • Date of Birth: 2 July 1865
  • Place of Birth in Ireland: Dunmanway
  • County: Cork
  • Education: Maynooth University, Dublin
  • Date of Ordination: 15 June 1890
  • Ordained by: Right Rev. John Egan, Bishop of Waterford

Diocesan Appointments

  • Pastor – Sacred Heart, Dodge City – 1903 to 1910

(Mission district included St Patrick’s, Coolidge; St Mary’s, Garden City,

St. John, Meade Center, with stations at Lakin, Liberal, Odee, West Plains and Ulysses, KS)

  • Pastor – St Peter’s, Schulte; Sacred Heart, Frontenac, and St Joseph’s, Beeville, TX
  • Transferred to the Diocese of Denver
  • Pastor – St Peter’s, Greeley; St Mary of the Assumption, Central City; St Peter’s, Cripple Creek; St Patrick, Holyoke and Holy Family, Denver (short appointments)
  • Transferred to the Diocese of Louisville, KY – 1925
  • Pastor – St Frances of Rome and St Philip Neri, Louisville, KY – 1926 to 1937
  • Chaplain – St Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls, Anchorage, KY – 1936 to 1937

Even though Father Mennis was born in Ireland, he spent most of his childhood and early adulthood becoming a champion shot-putter in New Zealand.

After his ordination, he served the Australian missions for a number of years before coming to the United States.

During his pastorate at Dodge City, he built St Andrew’s Church in Wright; St Stanislaus Church in Ingalls, and St John the Baptist Church in Meade. Those construction projects took place in 1909 and a year later, he initiated work on St Anthony’s Church in Fowler Kansas.

Father Mennis, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, was granted full naturalization citizenship in 1909 by Judge Gordon Finley on the opening day of the Ford County District Court in June. When asked by the Judge about his character, one of the character witnesses said that the only reason he might not make a good citizen is he would most likely vote as a Democrat. The judge told the character witness that was irrelevant, immaterial and unnecessary!

There is no reason given for why Father Mennis transferred to the Diocese of Denver, Colorado and then later to the Diocese of Louisville, Kentucky. While he was in Colorado, he served the parishioners of St Peter’s, Greeley; St Mary of the Assumption, Central City; St Peter’s, Cripple Creek; St Patrick, Holyoke and Holy Family, Denver.

His assignments in Kentucky following his transfer in 1925 was St Frances of Rome and St Philip Neri parishes both in Louisville. His last assignment was as chaplain of the St Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls.

Prior to Father Michael’s death, his brother Rev. Cornelius Mennis died in March 1925. He was a professor of dogmatic theology at St John’s Seminary and an assistant editor of “The Truth.” He was a well-known writer on countless subjects and a forceful orator and educator.

  • Date of Death: 29 July 1937
  • Place of Death: St Joseph’s Infirmary, Louisville, KY
  • Age of Death: 72
  • Cause of Death: Myocarditis
  • Funeral Celebrant: Fr BJ Boland, St Frances of Rome Church, Louisville
  • Burial: St Louis Cemetery, Louisville, KY

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