Ypsilanti Catholic Church Pastor, The Rev. William P. Mooney, Dies

Ypsilanti Catholic Church Pastor, The Rev. William P. Mooney, Dies

Lingering Illness Causes Death At 60
 

YPSILANTI — The Rev. William P. Mooney, jr., 60, pastor of St John’s Catholic Church here tor the past eight years, died early yesterday morning at St Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor following a lingering illness.
 

Born on July 1, 1901, at Morristown, N. J., a son of William P. and Elizabeth Malley Mooney, he attended Bayley Grammar School in Morristown, and Seaton High School in S. Orange, N. J.
 

The Rev. Fr. Mooney was graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in education. He then entered Belmont Abbey Seminary, Belmont, N. C., where he studied theology for two years.
 

Studied In Rome
 

He attended Collegio Angelicum at Rome, Italy, and was ordained a priest at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit on  Nov. 1, 1927. He spent his entire career as a priest in the Detroit Archdiosese.
 

Fr. Mooney first served as a missionary priest, from 1927-30 at Temperance, Mich. In, 1930, he was appointed assistant pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Erie, Mich, later being appointed pastor following the death of the Rev. Emil Wostein.
 

From 1939-42, he served as assistant pastor of St. Mathews Catholic Church in East Detroit,
 

(pictured)

The Rev. W. P. Mooney, Jr.

and in 1942 was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Good Council Church at Plymouth. During his pastorate in Plymouth, he attained a goal of building a church school and rectory.
 

He was appointed pastor of St. John’s church here in 1953, serving at the local church until his death. While here he was instrumental in building an addition to the school and a new high school, now near completion.
 

Fr. Mooney was an avid promoter of home missionary  work, throughout the U. S. and especially in the southwest.

Survivors Named
 

Survivors include a brother, Thomas F. Mooney, sr. of Morrisplains, N. J.; a sister, Miss Sarah Mooney of Morristown, N. J.; two nieces and four nephews.
 

A sister and a brother preceded him in death.
 

The Parish Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the church.
 

A solemn high mass of students at St. John’s will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and a solemn high mass for parishoners at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
 

A solemn pontifical funeral mass by the Most Rev. John F. Dearden, archbishop of Detroit, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in the St. John’s Cemetery.