OMAHA, NEB

Fr. James A. Egan, S.J. died Oct. 2, 2008, in Omaha, Nebraska at 73 years old.

Fr. Jim Egan was born in Ponca, Neb. on April 13, 1935 and baptized at St. Joseph Church. He attended St. Peter's Grade School in Omaha and graduated from Creighton Prep High School in 1952. On Aug. 8 of the same year Jim joined the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Mo., where he pronounced his first vows on Aug. 15, 1954. After two years in the same place for humanities studies, he moved to St. Louis and received the A.B. and Ph.L. degrees in philosophy from St. Louis University. Fr. Egan did regency at Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, from 1959 to 1962 and in 1961 he also obtained the M.Ed. degree from SLU. He then began theology studies at St. Mary's College in St. Mary's, Kansas, where on June 9, 1965 he was ordained. In 1966 to 1967 he did tertianship at St. Joseph Hall in Decatur, Ill. and then returned to Campion as a teacher of theology and English. In 1970, he undertook clinical pastoral education (CPE) at Mendota State Hospital in Madison and became hospital chaplain. From 1972 to 1978 Jim was campus minister at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and in 1973 he pronounced his final vows at the university's Catholic Center. Jim spent a sabbatical year at the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. and then returned to Madison to resume his campus ministry work. From 1980 to 1984 he served at St. Francis Mission in S.D., first as associate pastor and then as pastor of St. Bridget's Parish. In 1984 he moved to the La Storta Jesuit Community in Minneapolis, where he served as retreat and spiritual director. In 1990 he spent a sabbatical year at St. Francis Mission and then moved to Rapid City, S.D. as associate pastor of St. Isaac Jogues Parish. From 1992 to 1998 Jim was servant minister to the priests of the Omaha Archdiocese and in 1998 he moved to the East Africa Province, first for language studies at Loyola House in Nairobi, Kenya and then as pastoral minister at Xavier House in Kampala, Uganda. Jim returned to Omaha in 2005 and, after one year of medical leave, served as pastoral minister at St. Benedict the Moor Parish. A cancer that had been treated surgically spread over his body and he died on October 2, 2008.

In response to Jim's death, you are invited to a memorial service and reception honoring his life and ministry at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, at ST. PAUL'S UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC CENTER, 723 State Street, Madison.

For questions or to RSVP, contact John Schmitz (jjschmitz@wisc.edu; 608-233-1629) or Anne Edwardson (amedwardson@yahoo.com; 608-244-6450).