Quick Facts
Biography
Edward Denis (also Dionysius) Kelly (December 30, 1860 – March 26, 1926) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the third Bishop of Grand Rapids from 1919 until his death in 1926.
Biography
Edward Denis Kelly was born in Hartford, Michigan, to Thomas and Mary (née Hannon) Kelly. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 16, 1886 by Bishop Caspar Borgess. Kelly was then assigned to pastoral and seminary work in Michigan.
In 1891 Kelly became the minister at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor. There he found a parish that had outgrown their current church so he fund raised and built the current (2016) building between 1896 and 1899, using the Detroit architectural firm of Spier & Rohns for the purpose.
On December 9, 1910, Pope Pius X appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit and Titular Bishop of Cestrus. He received his episcopal consecration on the following January 26 from Cardinal James Gibbons, with Bishops Henry Richter and Camillus Maes serving as co-consecrators. Pope Benedict XV promoted Bishop Kelly to Bishop of Grand Rapids on January 16, 1919, and was installed on the following May 20.
Kelly died at the episcopal residence in Grand Rapids from a hemorrhage or embolism, at age 65.
Education
- He attended, among other places, Assumption College in Canada, and St. Charles College in Maryland.
- He was also a major contributor to the founding of Theta Phi Alpha, a national women's sorority at the University of Michigan.