Deceased: 1999-08-01
Diocese: BRIDGEPORT
Seminary Graduation Year: 1940
Rev. Msgr. Daniel Foley, a resident of New Fairfield, died Sunday, (August 1, 1999) at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain after a long struggle to recuperate from a heart attack and stroke. He was 85. Monsignor Foley was born in Manchester, son of Cornelius and Nora (Renn) Foley, and the youngest of seven children, five sisters and one brother. After graduation from Manchester High School he attended St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, from 1932 to 1936 and was assigned to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, MD from 1934 to 1936. He was then assigned to the North American College and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. He graduated and was ordained on March 7, 1940 in Our Lady’s Chapel at the North American College in Rome. Upon return to the United States in the summer of 1940 he was initially assigned as assistant pastor in Cromwell, and was then transferred to St. Joseph’s in Norwalk, where he served as the principal of the St. Joseph’s School. In 1947 he was transferred to St. Joseph Church, Danbury, where he served until 1960 as assistant pastor and principal of the school. He held collateral positions as chaplain at the Federal Correctional Institution and for the police and fire departments in Danbury. In early 1960 he was assigned to be the founding pastor of the newly formed parish of St. Leo’s in Stamford. During the period ending in late 1964 he was responsible for the construction of a church, school, rectory and the purchase of property for the Religious Sisters who staffed the school. In late 1964 he was assigned as pastor of St. Mary’s in Stamford. He also served as chaplain for the police and fire departments during his tenure in Stamford. In March of 1969 he was assigned to be pastor of St. Edward’s in New Fairfield, where he expanded the facilities by purchasing a rectory, creating a parish center and establishing the subsidiary Holy Trinity Chapel in Sherman. In early 1982 he retired to Florida, however, in 1984 he heard the call to continue his ministry. He returned to the Diocese of Bridgeport and was assigned as co-director of the Pastoral Care Department at Pope John Paul II Center for Health Care in Danbury. He served in that capacity until his recent illness in November 1998. During his 59 years as an ordained priest Monsignor Foley served six Popes, as many Bishops, and served thousands of parishoners. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, a long time member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains and a member of the Alumni Association of the North American College-Rome. He is survived by his 96 year-old sister, Mary (Foley) Conroy of East Hartford; and several nieces and nephews residing in Connecticut. Besides his mother and father, his brother, Connie; sisters, Peggy, Anne, Nellie and Katherine; and nieces and nephews, Father Richard Foley, Sister Elizabeth Ann Foley, Daniel Manchuck and John and Peter O’Connor predeceased him. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Edward The Confessor Church, 3 Macbean Dr., New Fairfield, Wednesday Morning at 11 a.m. Burial will take place in St. Bridget’s Cemetery, Manchester. Friends will be received at The Pope John Paul II Center For Health, 33 Lincoln Ave., Danbury,
