Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McNAMEE, W. J. 
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Paula Winke-Martisek wranglerjack@comcast.net September 19, 2007, 11:20 pm

Author: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

REV. W. J. McNAMEE, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Joliet, is 
considered one of the able men of his diocese and is also active in temperance 
work, being at this writing first vice-president of the Total Abstinence Union 
of Illinois and one of the leaders in the organization.  He was born June 20, 
1859, in Legga, near Ballinamuck, County Langford, Ireland, a son of John and 
Mary (Ward) McNamee, also natives of that county.  His father, who was born in 
1809, grew to manhood on the farm owned by his father, John, Sr., and is still 
living, at ninety years, on the same homestead, his twin brother, William, 
living a mile from his place. His wife is also living and is eighty-five years 
of age.  They are the parents of four sons and five daughters now living, of 
whom three sons and one daughter are in America, the daughter making her home 
with her brother, W. J.  Of the sons, John J., who was educated in America, is 
now chaplain at Forest Castle, Mount St. Vincent, on the Hudson; another son, 
Joseph, is assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Chicago.  A cousin, 
Joseph, son of William McNamee, is pastor of St. Theresa's Catholic Church in 
Brooklyn, N. Y.  Reared on the home farm until fifteen years of age, the 
subject of this sketch at that time began to study for the priesthood.  At 
first he was a pupil in a diocesan school, after which he completed the course 
in philosophy and theology in All Hallow's College in Dublin.  In that college 
he was ordained June 24, 1883, by Bishop Crane, of New Zealand, and at the 
same time he was assigned to the Chicago diocese.  Coming immediately to 
America, he was for six months assistant pastor of St. Mary's, Evanston, Ill., 
then was transferred to Holy Angels Church in Chicago, where he remained for 
nine years as assistant pastor.  In 1892 he established a new congregation in 
Aurora, purchased and remodeled a building and bought property adjoining with 
a parochial residence.  This parish bore the name of the one with which he had 
been identified in Chicago.  He remained there until February 10, 1897, when 
he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Church in Joliet.  The original location 
of St. Mary's was on the corner of Scott and Van Buren streets, but when the 
building on that site was burned, a new building was erected on North Ottawa 
street, where the congregation owns a quarter of a block, with the finest 
edifice in the city.  The membership is large and the various sodalities are 
in excellent working condition.  The church is not only next to the oldest 
among the Catholic churches of the city, but it is also one of the most 
harmonious and successful.  An academy is carried on, under the auspices of 
the Sisters of Loretto, in connection with the church, and St. Mary's 
parochial school affords excellent educational opportunities for the younger 
children. This school was remodeled in 1898, a steam plant being put in and 
other improvements made.  The four hundred and fifty pupils are under the 
charge of nine teachers from the convent of Loretto.  Many of the graduates of 
the high school receive county teachers' certificates, the course of 
instruction being sufficiently thorough to enable graduates to carry on 
educational work successfully.  Under the supervision of the pastor the work 
of St. Mary's moves on harmoniously.  He gives his personal attention to all 
matters connected with the work and looks carefully after the spiritual needs 
of his parishioners.  Besides his work as pastor he is serving as chaplain of 
the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Knights of Columbus, and is also a 
member of the Catholic Knights and Ladies of America. While he has always been 
devoted to his work, even to the point of self-sacrifice, he has occasionally 
allowed himself a vacation, and twice has returned to his old home, in 1887 
and 1896, at both of which times he toured through the British Isles and 
visited many points of historic interest. 

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