Reidy, Monsignor Daniel M
MONSIGNOR DANIEL M. REIDY
March 20, 1976
Personal Info
- Date of Birth: 29 January 1890
- Place of Birth in Ireland: Newtown, Shandrum, Charleville
- County: Cork
- Education: St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny and Kenrick Seminary, St Louis, MO
- Date of Ordination: 1 May 1913
- Place of Ordination: St Mary’s Cathedral, Wichita, KS
- Ordained by: Most Rev John J. Hennessy, Bishop of the Wichita Diocese
Diocesan Appointments:
- Assistant Pro-tem at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Wichita, KS – May through September 1913
- Pastor – Mother of God Parish, Oswego, KS – 1913 to 1917
- Pastor – St Rose of Lima, Council Grove – charged with building a new church (Holy Redeemer) in Tampa, KS – 1917 to 1930
- Pastor – St Teresa’s Parish, Hutchinson, KS – 1931 to 1967 (he oversaw the building of St. Teresa Grade School, the Sisters’ convent and a new rectory) and temporary pastor of Assumption Parish in Turon, KS.
- While in Hutchinson, he was the Diocesan Boy Scout Chaplain, auxiliary chaplain of the Hutchinson Naval Air Base and a diocesan consultor
- In 1963 he was name a monsignor by Pope Pius XII
- Chaplain – St Elizabeth Hospital in Hutchinson – following retirement from active parish work from June 30, 1967 to August 22, 1968
Father Daniel Reidy was ordained by Bishop John J. Hennessy in the first ordination to be held in the new St. Mary’s Cathedral in Wichita on May 1, 1913. Father Reidy celebrated his first Mass in the convent chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Mount St. Mary’s.
At Monsignor Reidy’s 50th anniversary of ordination, he gaily told 400 fellow townsmen and other friends at a dinner in his honor, “I’ve been sitting here thinking this would be a good time to die.” Bishop Byrne, also in attendance at this celebration, credited Monsignor Reidy with being instrumental in the growth of the Hutchinson Catholic community where there were now three churches, two elementary schools and a high school. The Bishop stressed, as did many of the other speakers that Monsignor Reidy’s reputation was far and wide with friendships among non-Catholics as well as Catholics.
Monsignor Reidy was one of 11 children, he came to the United States when he was 18. His brother, Maurice, already a priest for the Wichita Diocese, had made arrangements for his younger brother, Daniel, to finish his priesthood studies for the Diocese of Wichita.
- Date of Death: 20 March 1976
- Place of Death: Hutchinson, Kansas
- Age of Death: 86
- Primary Funeral Celebrant: Msgr. Charles Walsh
- Burial: St Teresa section in Memorial Park Cemetery in Hutchinson, KS
In an editorial written by Dorothy Melland and printed in the Salina Journal in 1976 stated, “If you grew up in the Thirties, if you learned your catechism from Father Reidy, you will be very skeptical to believe he is dead. One part of you will admit that Father Reidy was a mortal man and as subject to death as the rest of us. The other part is not so sure. There are men and there are natural forces. Father Reidy was a natural force. First of all, there was his appearance. In his prime, he was a striking man, with a massive head, thick steel-gray hair and piercing eyes under heavy, expressive brows. Then there was his speech. The newspapers said Father Reidy came to this country when he was 18. That will come as a shock to his former students, who were under the impression he had descended in an Irish whirlwind before class each day for his brogue grew richer and thicker every year. Irish he was and Irish he remained.”