Joseph Clement Willging

Joseph Clement Willging (September 6, 1884 – March 3, 1959) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Pueblo in Colorado from 1942 until his death in 1959.

Biography

Early life Joseph Willging was born on September 6, 1884, in Dubuque, Iowa, to Henry and Elizabeth (née Hanover) Willging. He attended St. Mary's School (1891–1898) and Columbia College (1898–1905), both in Dubuque. Willging then went to Baltimore, Maryland, to study at St. Mary's Seminary, earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1908. He then studied at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., for a year. Returning to Montana, Willging was appointed principal of St. Aloysius Institute in Helena, in 1909. He received his episcopal consecration at Saint Helena Cathedral in Helena on February 24, 1942, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, with Archbishop Henry Rohlman and Bishop Joseph Michael Gilmore serving as co-consecrators. He also encouraged the establishment of parochial schools and Catholic hospitals.

Joseph Willging died of a heart attack at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado, on March 3, 1959, at age 74.