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ent001576-020
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    University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

    &w** 'v! A Silver Jubilee celebration, commemorating 25 years in the priesthood, will be held for Fa- ther Patrick J. Toomey, C.S.V., Sunday afternoon tin the. Sands Hotel Grand Ballroom. The event will begin at 6 p.m.* and is being held by members of St. Viator?╟╓s parish. More than ,500 persons of all faiths and walks of life are expected to attend. Father Toomey was born in Butte, Montana in 1916. He at- tended grade school at St. Ga- .. ..................... briePs in Chicago and later high school at Quigley - Preparatory Seminary in the same city. His college education was ob- tained at St. Viator College, Bourbonnais, III. He later at- tended graduate school at Catho- lic University of America, Wash- ington, D.C., and was graduated from seminary school in 1941. Father Toomey?╟╓s first parish as. a young priest was at St. Viator Church in Chicago. He Was ordained by Samuel Car- dinal Stritch* Archbishop of Chi- cago. lllll........II.... Soon after, he began service as an instructor at St. Ambrose C o 11 e g e at Davenport, Iowa, and from here his life as a priest took on a new challenge. At the outbreak of World War II, Father Toomey began his work as a U.S. Army chaplain and served both in the United States and overseas. In the years that followed, he attained the rank of major and saw duty in Guam, Japan and the Philip- pine Islands. During later years, this ex- ? α ? α ? α Catholic Church is i by Father PatrickTfSonSejr whOfhllpedFfhe construction program get underway when he came to Las Vegas in 1961. Father Toomey will be feted Hotel Sunday when \he celebrates | his twenty'-fifth year in the priesthood; The new church IS at Flamingo and EastemStreets.The ?·ele. .. A . perience dealing with other peo- ples in foreign lands would serve him in good stead. Following the?╟  war, Father Toomey again returned to the classroom teaching at DePaul University in Chicago, Burat Col- lege in Lake Forest, 111., and serving as a seminary advisor for St, Viator?╟╓s ixi Chicago. With the outbreak of the Ko- rean War he was again called to active duty and served in Guam and Japan. After the war, his now vast experience was put to work in foreign mission work and for nearly ten years he served in missions the world ovey. ' , Included in the list were stints in Japan, Formosa, the Philip- pine Islands, West Africa, Chile, Peru and Columbia. And on all fronts he has been considered a dedicated man, perhaps best known fori getting things done. In 1961, Father Toomey came to St, Viator?╟╓s parish in Las Ve- gas and his talents of ac- complishment were immediately evident. He began a building program which in a few short years has seen the parish move from a store front on East Charleston to the Guardian Angel Shrine and to the new permanent home on Flamingo Road at Extern Avenue. Father Toomey perhaps one of the few men who is of the type that people like to help ... people, that Is, of all faiths and creeds. He instills in man a sense of belonging, of helping, of charity and the growth of St. Viator?╟╓s is in a sense a memor- ial to this man as well as to Las Vegans of a great many religiohs who cared enough for this man to help. These people will be at the Sands Sunday to applaud the man who did so much for his conmiuMi^ and the spiritual wellbeing of his adopted home.