Thomas Joseph WalshJr. (December 6, 1873 – June 6, 1952) was a prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first archbishop of the new Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1938 until his death in 1952.
Walsh previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Newark from 1928 to 1938 and as bishop of the Diocese of Trenton in New Jersey from 1918 to 1928.
Thomas Walsh Jr. was born in Parker's Landing, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of Thomas and Helen (Curtin) Walsh. After attending public and parochial schools in Pennsylvania, he studied at St. Bonaventure College in Allegany, New York. [1]
Walsh was among those, who with Christian Brother Barnabas McDonald encouraged the Knights of Columbus to consider working with youth. To this end, in August 1922, Walsh addressed the annual meeting of the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus held in Atlantic City. Supreme Knight James A. Flaherty named a special committee headed by then Deputy Supreme Knight, Martin H. Carmody to study the feasibility of organizing a junior order, which in 1925 became the Columbian Squires.[5]
In 1910, five sisters of the Religious Teachers Filippini were sent by Pope Pius X to work among the Italian immigrants in St. Joachim's parish in South Trenton. Walsh became a supporter of their work, and in 1918, with the help of a donation from businessman James Cox Brady, he acquired the Harvey Fisk estate "Riverside" in Ewing Township for the sisters. It became their motherhouse and novitiate. The sisters named it Villa Victoria in memory of Brady's wife, Victoria May Pery Brady. In 1933, the sisters established Villa Victoria Academy, an all-girls, private, Catholic middle and high school.[6] He also dedicated the new St. James High School and Auditorium.[7]
Following the death of Bishop O'Connor in May 1927, Walsh was named Bishop of the Diocese of Newark on March 2, 1928. He was installed at the, as yet unfinished, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on May 1, 1928.[2] The following year, Walsh established the Newark Mount Carmel Guild to help those on public assistance. In 1930, the guild set up a soup kitchen in the basement of St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral.[8] In 1930, Walsh acquired the "Tower Hill", the estate of Louis C. Gillespie, founder of L.C. Gillespie & Sons. He invited the Religious Teachers Filippini to expand their work to the Diocese of Newark. The sisters re-located their motherhouse to Morristown, New Jersey, and named it Villa Walsh, where they opened another girls school, Villa Walsh Academy, while continuing to operate Villa Victoria Academy in Ewing Township.[9]
In 1931, Walsh saw the opening of a new chancery building on Mulberry St. Prior to that, the administration of the diocese was conducted out of offices at St. John's School. In 1933, Walsh established Saint Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia, New Jersey.[10] In 1935, Walsh attended a Eucharistic congress held in Cleveland.[3]
Thomas Walsh died on June 6, 1952, and was buried in the Cathedral crypt. Eighty-five prelates and 700 priests attended his funeral ceremony, with over 5,000 people outside the cathedral.[14]
In October 1957, the Diocese of Buffalo, New York announced the opening of a central Catholic high school in Olean, New York, near St Bonaventure University, to be named Archbishop Walsh High School, in honor of Thomas Walsh. The school operated from its original location on 24th Street in Olean until 2023,when it relocated to the former St. John’s school building in Olean.[15]
