January 17, 1950
Father Thomas J. Powers
Father Powers was born on May 26, 1878 at Petersboro, Ontario, Canada and his family later moved to Syracuse, NY. His studies for the priesthood were completed at St. Bonaventure’s College and Seminary in Allegheny, NY and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Bishop Thomas Lillis ordained Father Powers for the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas City, KS on November 23, 1906. He was assigned to Parsons for several years and then to Girard, Council Grove, Chase, and to Iola with Moline as a mission. His final assignment was to Sacred Heart Parish in Fredonia. In 1949 he became ill and spent several months in Mercy Hospital in Independence where he died on January 17, 1950. At the funeral Mass celebrated in Fredonia Bishop Carroll said, “Father Powers was one of our veteran priests. He must have had a zealous vision as a young man to leave his good home and come to the missionary Diocese of Wichita. (The Advance Register, Jan. 27, 1950)