Joseph Henry Conroy


Joseph Henry Conroy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Ogdensburg from 1921 until his death in 1939.

Biography

Joseph Conroy was born in Watertown, New York, and completed his preparatory studies in Canada at the Sulpician College in Montreal, Quebec, and at St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario. Returning to New York, he studied theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in Troy. Conroy was ordained to the priesthood on June 11, 1881. He was first assigned to the mission at Churubusco, and then served as pastor in Rouses Point. In April 1883 he was named rector of St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg. He became vicar general of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in March 1901, and later a Domestic Prelate of His Holiness in October 1905.
On March 11, 1912, Conroy was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Ogdensburg and Titular Bishop of Arindela by Pope Pius X. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 1 from Cardinal John Murphy Farley, with Bishops Henry Gabriels and Charles H. Colton serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral. Following the death of Bishop Gabriels in April 1921, Conroy was named the third Bishop of Ogdensburg by Pope Benedict XV on November 21, 1921. He was installed by Cardinal Patrick Joseph Hayes on January 18, 1922. In 1935 he allowed Rev. Cyril Stevens to become president of Ticonderoga National Bank, despite canon law forbidding a priest to engage in business.
Conroy later died at age 80.