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In Memoriam

Jesuit Father Dennis M. Linehan died on Sept. 23, 2016 at the age of 74. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 9, 1942. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia and entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania in 1960. He received his bachelor’s degree in classical languages and a master’s in european history from St. Louis University. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Woodstock College in New York. He was ordained a priest on June 3, 1972.

Fr. Linehan first taught History at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and later became a professor of history and classical languages at Loyola College in Maryland. He was also the college’s director of pre-ministerial studies. In 1984, he was called to serve for a year as the assistant academic dean at the University of Scranton, where he then spent the next ten years as a professor of theology.

In 1995, Fr. Linehan became a writer and the associate editor for America magazine, a position he held through 2009. He worked tirelessly through the tragedy of 9/11 and the ensuing months, foregoing any time off to make sure coverage of the unfolding stories never missed a beat.

From 2009 to 2013, Fr. Linehan served as a pastoral minister, first at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville and then at Old St. Joseph’s Church in Philadelphia. He moved to Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore in 2013 and then to Manresa Hall in Philadelphia in 2016, where he passed away.