Rt. Reverend Monsignor Edward J. Connolly was born in county Meath, Ireland, November 16, 1885, son of Edward and Ann Downes Connolly. He attended the National School of County Meath and St. Finian Seminary in Ireland.

He completed his last years of school at Kendrick Theological Seminary, St. Louis. He was ordained December 20, 1908 and said his first Mass at Resurrection Catholic Church in Wellsville.

During the sixty five years Msgr. Connolly was a priest, he served seven bishops and was in three different dioceses, while living in the rectory of Holy Rosary Parish. His first priestly assignment was as assistant at Holy Rosary. He was assistant at Monroe City for four years and then was named assistant at St. Joseph Parish at Edina. He returned to Holy Rosary as pastor October 16, 1919.

In May, 1920 he had ground broken for the present parochial school. He did much of the manual labor, especially helping to dig the basement with a horse drawn scraper. Although the high school closed in 1966, the elementary school continues to be a monument of Msgr. Connolly’s dedication to youth and its religious education.

Msgr. Connolly was named a Domestic prelate, giving him the title of Monsignor in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The Knights of Columbus constructed a gymnasium and meeting room in 1954 and honored Msgr. Connolly by naming it in his honor. He remained as pastor of Holy Rosary Parish until 1965 when Father William Ludwig was named pastor.

While Msgr. Connolly devoted his life and service to his adopted country, he retained his devotion to the land of his birth. In 1967, grateful parishioners gave him a trip “back home” as an expression of their feelings for him.

Msgr. Connolly died Sunday, December 16, 1973 at 5:45 a.m. in St. Elizabeth Hospital, Hannibal, Mo. His epitaph is not written in words, but in the school he built, the church he guided, and the many lives he touched.