Individual Details
Daniel Purcell
(26 Jun 1913 - 26 Dec 1965)
Events
Families
| Father | Michael J. Purcell (1871 - 1918) |
| Mother | Florence Nacey (1880 - 1947) |
| Sibling | Robert Joeseph Purcell (1907 - 1910) |
| Sibling | Marian Purcell (1909 - 1983) |
| Sibling | Ethel Purcell (1911 - 2008) |
Notes
Residence
50 YEARS PASS IN REVIEW TODAY AT ST. BERNARDPageantry to Accent I Golden Jubilee.BY RITA FITZPATRICK.When the Latin chant of " Deo Gratias " rings out at high mass thisnoon from the marble altar of St. Bernard Church, 66th street and Stewart avenue, it carry with it a golden thanks. giving, for today marks the fiftieth year of the founding of the parish.Monsignor Ryan.T h e pageantry of the scene, with its many richly robed church dignitaries a n d thousands of worshippers- gathered in a golden appointed church, will be a far cry from the first handful of parish pioneers who huddled before a homemade altar a half century ago in Morony's hall, 62nd street and Wentworth avenue.Example of Progress.St. Bernard parish as it stands today, housing its hospital, grammar and high schools, church, rectory, convent, and community center, represents the progress of Englewood. It tells, too, the dream of an Irish philosopher, who was its first priest, late Rev. Bernard P. Murray, and the keen business ability of its present, pastor, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. John F. Ryan.To do honor to both, Cardinal Mundelien will preside this noon at high mass, and the Most Rev. Edward F. Hoban, bishop of Rockford, will be the celebrant. The Most Rev. William D. O'Brien, aux- bishop of Chicago, will preach the sermon, and the assistants of the mass will be the Rev. J. A. Garrity, pastor of St. Anastasia church, deacon; the Rev. James A. Walsh, pastor of Sacred Heart church, sub. deacon: The Rev, Daniel F. Cunningham, diocesan superintendent of school, and--the-Rev. John M. Ryan of St. Anne parish.Procession Before Mass.Prior to the mass a procession of 10" uniformed nurses from St. Bernard hospital, 63d street and Harvard avenue, 300 blue and white clad students of Loretto High school, 65th street and Stewart avenue, and several thousand parishioners will form an honor guard for the cardinal and the 100 visiting clergymen. Prominent in the procession, too, will be 157 who have resided in the parish practically from its beginningThe celebration will be greatly theirs, for they are the ones who know the struggles of the early days and who worked to build the parish into a settlement of service and worship.Traveling French missionaries first brought the Catholic religion into Englewood, then an elm patched swamp. Gradually, as eastern settlers gathered in the district and, it be- came, in 1865, the village of the Town of Lake, a tiny parish grew. It is now known as St. Anne's. All the churches in the vicinity are out- growths of this first mission. Two years before the village became part of the city of Chicago the Rev. Bernard P. Murray was appointed to found St. Bernard's.Starts with Debts.Father Murray was an Irishman with high ideals and big ideas. He bought land fronting 200 feet on Stewart avenue and 170 feet on 66th street for a mortgaged sum of $16,. 000. The land for his dream was there, but no funds for a church. The first mass was said in 1887 in Morony's hall, above a real estate office. Seventeen men were in at. tendance and the sum of $500 was pledged for a house of worship. Undaunted, Father Murray contracted for his first building, a two story brick, with four schoolrooms and a hall, at a cost of $20,000.Five sisters of the Ladies of Loretto order from Ontario, Canada, were selected as teachers of the small . The tiny staff organized an elementary school and, as the first class was ready for graduation in 1893, established a high school curriculum. Today the grammar school has 300 pupils and the high school an equal number.In 1903, realizing the importance of a hospital in the district,- Father Murray obtained permission to call the Religious Hospitalers of St. Joseph from Kingston, Ont., Canada, to his parish. Seven nuns established the present St. Bernard Hospital and Nursing school. Since that time 245,000 patients have received medical care within its walls.Remodeling Is Started.Another Irishman of God was appointed pastor of St. Bernard church in 1917. He was the young Father Ryan, who had been born in Tipperarf and who had been schooled at St. Patrick college in Thurles. Father Ryan came to this parish, where ambition outstripped the revenue; with the experience of seventeen rears as pastor of St. Mel church and[Continued on page two.]50 YEARS PASSIN REVIEW TODAY AT ST. BERNARDS[Continued from page one.]one year as pastor of St. Patrick's in Kankakee.He set about to remodel the buildings which were twenty five years old and which showed the ravages of time. Under his pastorate the church was enlarged. Lighting and heating plants were installed, an eighteen room grammar school and large rectory erected, the first novitiate of theLoretto order established in the United States, and a community center created with modern recreational and auditorium equipment.Msgr. Ryan is assisted now by five clerics, the Rev. Harold J. Kenny, assistant director of the Propagation of the Faith; the Rev. Cletus J. Lynch, the Rev. J. J. Hartnett, professor at Quigley seminary; the Rev. Thomas J. Kelly, and the Rev. Peter J. Riley.The jubilee observance continue until Nov. 17 a solemn high mass at 9 o clock Tuesday morning being said for all de- ceased parishioners, a solemn high mass at 9 o clock Friday morning for the children of the parish, and a jubilee banquet Nov. 17 at the Stevens hotelEndnotes
1. , "Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVMN-R8DX : accessed 14 Jun 2014), Daniel Purcell, 1913. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
2. , "Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial." Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jun. 2014.. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
3. , "Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVMN-R8DX : accessed 13 Jul 2014), Daniel Purcell, 1913. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
4. , "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWY9-TM5 : accessed 19 November 2015), Daniel Purcell in household of Dennis Dunne, Ward 6, Chicago, Chicago City, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
5. , "Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVMN-R8DX : accessed 14 Jun 2014), Daniel Purcell, 1913. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
6. , "Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925", index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QVMN-R8DX : accessed 13 Jul 2014), Daniel Purcell, 1913. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
7. , "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWY9-TM5 : accessed 19 November 2015), Daniel Purcell in household of Dennis Dunne, Ward 6, Chicago, Chicago City, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
8. , "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWY9-TM5 : accessed 19 November 2015), Daniel Purcell in household of Dennis Dunne, Ward 6, Chicago, Chicago City, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
9. , "Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial." Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jun. 2014.. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).
10. , "Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial." Rev Fr Daniel J Purcell ( - 1965) - Find A Grave Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jun. 2014.. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).

