The Right Reverend Monsignor William Edward Corr, PhD., known colloquially as "Father Bill" to friends and family, was born in Taunton, Massachusetts to Irish immigrants John Corr and Bridget Fallon.
He matriculated at the College of the Holy Cross and was awarded a degree in theology in 1904. He entered the seminary at the American College of Louvain in Belgium and was ordained in 1907 (Note: Louvain closed in 2013 ending its 154 year history of educating Catholic priests in Europe).
Following ordination, Fr. Bill returned to the United States serving at St. Patrick's Parish and St. Vincent's Home - both in Fall River, Massachusetts - where he also served as director of diocesan charities.
In 1918, he began graduate studies in sociology and social work at Columbia University. Immediately thereafter, he was assigned to the rapidly growing Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles. His recent education likely influenced Bishop John J. Cantwell who invested Fr. Bill with establishing the new office of Associated Catholic Charities. He became the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Charities for the Diocese and worked closely with Mary Julia Workman who founded Brownson House Settlement Association in 1901. Brownson House comprised a group of lay women who met the needs of poor immigrants in southern California by providing educational, vocational and social programs such as student clubs, Sunday school, dances, and sporting events.
In 1924, Fr. Bill became pastor of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Parish in Altadena, California where he served until his death in 1940. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of a new church and had a shrine built honoring Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette. The financial assistance of Mrs. Robert B. Young and her daughter, Mrs. Mary Young Moore, who were generous benefactresses to the Catholic Church, made its construction possible. In its first year, nearly a half million devotees and pilgrims visited the "Lourdes of the West" grotto.
In 1965, St. Elizabeth's named its new grammar school after Fr. Bill. His grand nephew, the late James P. Coyle of Santa Cruz, represented the Corr family at the dedication ceremony.
Wake services were held in the Office of the Dead at St. Elizabeth's on Wednesday, October 30th followed by a solemn requiem mass on Thursday, October 31st at 10:00 am. Fr. Bill was entombed in the Calvary Cemetery mausoleum by funeral director Wendell P. Cabot & Sons of Pasadena.
Bio by: Frank Coyle
Sources:
-----------
--St. Elizabeth Parish: A History of Early Rancho Days and of Fifty Parish Years, 1918-1968, Robert E. Brennan (Altadena, Calif., 1968)
--Holy Cross Bulletin (various years)
--Catholicism in the American West: A Rosary of Hidden Voices, Roberto R. Treviño, Richard V. Francaviglia, Anne M. Butler
--Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West, Fay Botham, Sara M. Patterson
--California History: Mary Julia Workman, the Catholic Conscience of Los Angeles, California History, Michael E. Engh, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 2-19
--Los Angeles Times death notice - October 1940
He matriculated at the College of the Holy Cross and was awarded a degree in theology in 1904. He entered the seminary at the American College of Louvain in Belgium and was ordained in 1907 (Note: Louvain closed in 2013 ending its 154 year history of educating Catholic priests in Europe).
Following ordination, Fr. Bill returned to the United States serving at St. Patrick's Parish and St. Vincent's Home - both in Fall River, Massachusetts - where he also served as director of diocesan charities.
In 1918, he began graduate studies in sociology and social work at Columbia University. Immediately thereafter, he was assigned to the rapidly growing Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles. His recent education likely influenced Bishop John J. Cantwell who invested Fr. Bill with establishing the new office of Associated Catholic Charities. He became the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Charities for the Diocese and worked closely with Mary Julia Workman who founded Brownson House Settlement Association in 1901. Brownson House comprised a group of lay women who met the needs of poor immigrants in southern California by providing educational, vocational and social programs such as student clubs, Sunday school, dances, and sporting events.
In 1924, Fr. Bill became pastor of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Parish in Altadena, California where he served until his death in 1940. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of a new church and had a shrine built honoring Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette. The financial assistance of Mrs. Robert B. Young and her daughter, Mrs. Mary Young Moore, who were generous benefactresses to the Catholic Church, made its construction possible. In its first year, nearly a half million devotees and pilgrims visited the "Lourdes of the West" grotto.
In 1965, St. Elizabeth's named its new grammar school after Fr. Bill. His grand nephew, the late James P. Coyle of Santa Cruz, represented the Corr family at the dedication ceremony.
Wake services were held in the Office of the Dead at St. Elizabeth's on Wednesday, October 30th followed by a solemn requiem mass on Thursday, October 31st at 10:00 am. Fr. Bill was entombed in the Calvary Cemetery mausoleum by funeral director Wendell P. Cabot & Sons of Pasadena.
Bio by: Frank Coyle
Sources:
-----------
--St. Elizabeth Parish: A History of Early Rancho Days and of Fifty Parish Years, 1918-1968, Robert E. Brennan (Altadena, Calif., 1968)
--Holy Cross Bulletin (various years)
--Catholicism in the American West: A Rosary of Hidden Voices, Roberto R. Treviño, Richard V. Francaviglia, Anne M. Butler
--Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West, Fay Botham, Sara M. Patterson
--California History: Mary Julia Workman, the Catholic Conscience of Los Angeles, California History, Michael E. Engh, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 2-19
--Los Angeles Times death notice - October 1940
The Right Reverend Monsignor William Edward Corr, PhD., known colloquially as "Father Bill" to friends and family, was born in Taunton, Massachusetts to Irish immigrants John Corr and Bridget Fallon.
He matriculated at the College of the Holy Cross and was awarded a degree in theology in 1904. He entered the seminary at the American College of Louvain in Belgium and was ordained in 1907 (Note: Louvain closed in 2013 ending its 154 year history of educating Catholic priests in Europe).
Following ordination, Fr. Bill returned to the United States serving at St. Patrick's Parish and St. Vincent's Home - both in Fall River, Massachusetts - where he also served as director of diocesan charities.
In 1918, he began graduate studies in sociology and social work at Columbia University. Immediately thereafter, he was assigned to the rapidly growing Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles. His recent education likely influenced Bishop John J. Cantwell who invested Fr. Bill with establishing the new office of Associated Catholic Charities. He became the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Charities for the Diocese and worked closely with Mary Julia Workman who founded Brownson House Settlement Association in 1901. Brownson House comprised a group of lay women who met the needs of poor immigrants in southern California by providing educational, vocational and social programs such as student clubs, Sunday school, dances, and sporting events.
In 1924, Fr. Bill became pastor of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Parish in Altadena, California where he served until his death in 1940. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of a new church and had a shrine built honoring Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette. The financial assistance of Mrs. Robert B. Young and her daughter, Mrs. Mary Young Moore, who were generous benefactresses to the Catholic Church, made its construction possible. In its first year, nearly a half million devotees and pilgrims visited the "Lourdes of the West" grotto.
In 1965, St. Elizabeth's named its new grammar school after Fr. Bill. His grand nephew, the late James P. Coyle of Santa Cruz, represented the Corr family at the dedication ceremony.
Wake services were held in the Office of the Dead at St. Elizabeth's on Wednesday, October 30th followed by a solemn requiem mass on Thursday, October 31st at 10:00 am. Fr. Bill was entombed in the Calvary Cemetery mausoleum by funeral director Wendell P. Cabot & Sons of Pasadena.
Bio by: Frank Coyle
Sources:
-----------
--St. Elizabeth Parish: A History of Early Rancho Days and of Fifty Parish Years, 1918-1968, Robert E. Brennan (Altadena, Calif., 1968)
--Holy Cross Bulletin (various years)
--Catholicism in the American West: A Rosary of Hidden Voices, Roberto R. Treviño, Richard V. Francaviglia, Anne M. Butler
--Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West, Fay Botham, Sara M. Patterson
--California History: Mary Julia Workman, the Catholic Conscience of Los Angeles, California History, Michael E. Engh, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 2-19
--Los Angeles Times death notice - October 1940
He matriculated at the College of the Holy Cross and was awarded a degree in theology in 1904. He entered the seminary at the American College of Louvain in Belgium and was ordained in 1907 (Note: Louvain closed in 2013 ending its 154 year history of educating Catholic priests in Europe).
Following ordination, Fr. Bill returned to the United States serving at St. Patrick's Parish and St. Vincent's Home - both in Fall River, Massachusetts - where he also served as director of diocesan charities.
In 1918, he began graduate studies in sociology and social work at Columbia University. Immediately thereafter, he was assigned to the rapidly growing Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles. His recent education likely influenced Bishop John J. Cantwell who invested Fr. Bill with establishing the new office of Associated Catholic Charities. He became the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Charities for the Diocese and worked closely with Mary Julia Workman who founded Brownson House Settlement Association in 1901. Brownson House comprised a group of lay women who met the needs of poor immigrants in southern California by providing educational, vocational and social programs such as student clubs, Sunday school, dances, and sporting events.
In 1924, Fr. Bill became pastor of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary Parish in Altadena, California where he served until his death in 1940. During his tenure, he oversaw construction of a new church and had a shrine built honoring Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette. The financial assistance of Mrs. Robert B. Young and her daughter, Mrs. Mary Young Moore, who were generous benefactresses to the Catholic Church, made its construction possible. In its first year, nearly a half million devotees and pilgrims visited the "Lourdes of the West" grotto.
In 1965, St. Elizabeth's named its new grammar school after Fr. Bill. His grand nephew, the late James P. Coyle of Santa Cruz, represented the Corr family at the dedication ceremony.
Wake services were held in the Office of the Dead at St. Elizabeth's on Wednesday, October 30th followed by a solemn requiem mass on Thursday, October 31st at 10:00 am. Fr. Bill was entombed in the Calvary Cemetery mausoleum by funeral director Wendell P. Cabot & Sons of Pasadena.
Bio by: Frank Coyle
Sources:
-----------
--St. Elizabeth Parish: A History of Early Rancho Days and of Fifty Parish Years, 1918-1968, Robert E. Brennan (Altadena, Calif., 1968)
--Holy Cross Bulletin (various years)
--Catholicism in the American West: A Rosary of Hidden Voices, Roberto R. Treviño, Richard V. Francaviglia, Anne M. Butler
--Race, Religion, Region: Landscapes of Encounter in the American West, Fay Botham, Sara M. Patterson
--California History: Mary Julia Workman, the Catholic Conscience of Los Angeles, California History, Michael E. Engh, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 2-19
--Los Angeles Times death notice - October 1940
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Rt. Rev. Msgr. William E. Corr
1882-1940
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