Rev. John J. BRICKLEY

BRICKLEY, BURNS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/30/2010 at 11:48:01

November 2, 1998
Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette

12 August 1909 -- 30 October 1998

BRITT, IA — Fr. John J. Brickley, 89, died Friday (Oct. 30, 1998) at Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, Britt, with Archbishop Jerome Hanus, O.S.B., officiating. Burial will take place in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Britt. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. today at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Britt, and one hour prior to services Tuesday. There will be a rosary at 7 p.m. tonight, led by Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus followed by a scriptural wake service at 7:30 p.m. Friends and relatives are invited to the church following the graveside services.

Fr. John Brickley, son of Patrick and Mayme (Burns) Brickley, was born Aug. 12, 1909, in Harvard, Ill. At the age of 2, he moved to Kenosha, Wis., with his family. Upon graduating from high school, he attended Loras College, from which he graduated in 1931. He took his theological studies at Sulpician Seminary and did graduate work in sociology and education at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He was ordained to the priesthood June 15, 1935, by Archbishop Francis J. L. Beckman at St. Raphael Cathedral, Dubuque. In 1935, Fr. Brickley was named associate pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Cresco. There he taught in the high school, took care of the mission parish of St. Stephen in Chester, and was chaplain of Mercy Hospital, Cresco. In 1939, Fr. Brickley was named associate pastor of St. Cecelia parish in Ames, where he was also the first chaplain to the Catholic students at Iowa State University. From 1943 to 1949, he was pastor of SS Peter and Paul parish, Gilbert, and Good Shepherd parish, Jewell.

Fr. Brickley was named associate pastor of St. Mary parish, Ackley, in January 1949, and in October 1954, he became pastor of St. Patrick parish, Nevada, and St. Mary parish, Colo. In March 1966, Fr. Brickley was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart parish, Eagle Grove. In 1969 he became pastor of St. Mary parish, Williams. He was appointed to St. Patrick parish, Britt, in September1973, where he served until his retirement in 1985. After retirement, Fr. Brickley lived for a time at Lake Cornelia near Clarion. He then returned to Britt where he lived until moving to Kenosha, Wis., and eventually to Villa Raphael in Dubuque. Fr. Brickley is a past president of the Hancock County Ministerial Association and the Britt Lions Club, he was a board member of the Hancock County Right to Life. He is a charter member of the National Association of Priest Pilots. Fr. Brickley has been the National Hobo Chaplain since 1975; he was also a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus.

Fr. Brickley is survived by one sister-in-law, Clara Brickley, of Kenosha, Wis., and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother and a sister.