Joseph A. Canning

Joseph A. Canning (October 31, 1882 – March 23, 1951) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit. Born in New York City, he studied at St. Francis Xavier High School, before entering the Society of Jesus in 1898. He continued his studies at St. Andrew-on-Hudson and Woodstock College. He was ordained a priest in 1915, and spent the next eight years as a missionary in Jamaica.

He returned to the United States in 1925, and was an administrator and teacher at Jesuit schools in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 1934, he became the president of Loyola College in Maryland. Upon the end of his term four years later, he returned to St. Peter's High School, and he died in Jersey City in 1951.

Early life Joseph A. Canning was born on October 31, 1882, in New York City. He studied at St. Francis Xavier High School in New York,

Canning next taught for four years at St. Francis Xavier High School, and then for a year at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He then returned to Woodstock for four more years of theology. He then spent a final year at St. Andrew-on-Hudson, studying ascetical theology. in the Society of Jesus on February 2, 1918. following the completion of his studies, Canning was sent to Jamaica as a missionary. For eight years, he taught at St. George College in Kingston.

Academia Upon his return to the United States in 1925, Canning taught at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. before returning to Gonzaga for three years. Canning became an administrator at St. Isaac Jogues Novitiate in Wernersville, Pennsylvania for two-and-a-half years, before transferring to St. Francis Xavier High School in February 1934. His term as president came to an end in 1938, and he was succeeded by Edward B. Bunn.

Following the end of his presidency, he returned to St. Peter's High School in Jersey City, where he became spiritual director for the Jesuit community there. He also served as a parish priest at St. Peter's Catholic Church. Canning died in Jersey City on March 23, 1951. His funeral was held on March 26, and was attended by Thomas J. Murry, the president of Loyola College, on behalf of the school.