June 26, 2000

Father Peter Finnegan

Father Finnegan was born on October 29, 1916 in Monaghan, Ireland. He studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Seminary, Carlow, Ireland where he was ordained for the Diocese of Wichita on June 7, 1942 by Bishop Thomas Keogh. Because of the war Father Finnegan did not arrive in Wichita until April of 1943. (History of the Diocese of Wichita, p. 203) Father Finnegan was an assistant at St. Patrick Parish in Parsons and was pastor in Chicopee with Cherokee and Fleming as missions; Humboldt; Chanute; St. Anne, Wichita; St. Patrick, Parsons; and Scammon and Weir. He retired to the Priest Retirement Center on October 1, 1992 and remained there until his death on June 26, 2000. Bishop Gerber was the principal celebrant of his funeral Mass at St. Elizabeth Chapel in the Catholic Care Center in Wichita on June 30, 2000. Father Finnegan was buried at Ascension Cemetery in Wichita.