Patrick R. Cooney

Patrick Ronald Cooney (March 10, 1934 – October 15, 2012) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third bishop of Gaylord in Michigan from 1990 to 2012. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1982 to 1989.

Early life Patrick Cooney was born on March 10, 1934, in Detroit, Michigan, to Michael and Elizabeth (née Dowdall) Cooney. The oldest of four children, he had two sisters, Mary, a teacher with the Detroit Public School System and Leontia, an Adrian Dominican nun. His brother Michael was a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Cooney attended St. Edward Elementary School from 1940 to 1948, and Sacred Heart Seminary High School from 1948 to 1952. He obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian in 1960. Upon his return to the United States, he served as an assistant pastor at St. Catherine Parish in Detroit (1960 – 1962), assistant chancellor of the archdiocese (1962 – 1969), and chaplain at Mercy College in Detroit(1967 – 1972). After the Detroit Free Press reported on the situation in 2003, Cooney said that Shirilla had made "some errors in judgment" but was "no threat to the well-being of our children". Two weeks later, Cooney suspended Shirilla from ministry. He then underwent quadruple bypass surgery at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, Michigan.

Retirement and death Cooney retired as bishop of Gaylord on October 7, 2009. He died on October 15, 2012.