Monsignor Scanlan was born in Ireland, in Ennis, County Clare, on October 9, 1881. He was brought to this country in his early childhood. He attended Xavier High School and perhaps at that time heard Christ’s call to “Come and follow me.” He attended St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia and then pursued his studies for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, a place that was to figure so prominently in his life. Father Scanlan was ordained to the priesthood in St. Stephen’s Church in Manhattan by Bishop Cusack on July 17, 1907. He had summer pastoral assignments in Livingston Manor, St. Cecilia’s in Manhattan, and in Peekskill. After pursuing graduate studies at the Catholic University in Washington, he was assigned in September, 1909 to the faculty of Dunwoodie where (with the exception of a year of graduate studies in Rome from 1911 to 1912) he would remain for the next three decades, first as professor of philosophy for twenty years, then from 1931 to 1940 as Rector of the Seminary. Almost a thousand priests who studied at Dunwoodie during those years came under his priestly influence. As a student, a professor, and a Rector, Monsignor Scanlan was part of the history of Dunwoodie for almost four decades. He did his job of training priests in the seminary. But he also drew from Dunwoodie the deep spirituality that was to guide him for the rest of his life. In a way, Monsignor lived the life of Dunwoodie not only when he was physically living there, but ever after, as he sang God’s praises with the new people into whose lives he would come in 1940, as he walked in deep meditation praying his priestly office or his rosary, as he rose early each morning to greet Our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as he talked to God in the silence of his heart and found in prayer the strength to begin a new phase in his life, the establishment of St. Helena’s Parish.

 In 1940, Monsignor Scanlan was almost sixty years of age but was just beginning the phase of his priestly life that would endear him to the hearts of countless thousands of people. In May of 1940, the new Archbishop (later Cardinal) Francis Spellman wanted a "good shepherd" for a new parish that had literally emerged overnight. The Parkchester apartment complex in the Bronx was just being completed, with thousands of young Catholic families moving in. Archbishop Spellman called on Monsignor Scanlan to establish this new parish. When a name for the new parish was to be selected, Monsignor Scanlan suggested the name of the patron saint of the Archbishop's mother, and the parish of St. Helena was born.

Monsignor offered the first Mass of St. Helena's Parish there on the second Sunday of June 1940. Ground for St. Helena’s Church was broken on December 1, 1940, and the cornerstone was laid on June 8, 1941. Work progressed rapidly and Monsignor was able to celebrate the first Mass in the auditorium of the new building on October 4, 1941. Archbishop Spellman came to dedicate the completed church on May 3, 1942. The Archbishop was surprised more by the enthusiasm of the parishioners than by the new building itself. He was further touched by the amazing amount of spiritual work that Monsignor Scanlan had already accomplished in such a short time.

 Monsignor loved his schools - his grammar school which opened in the Loefler's Casino days, his academic high school which opened in boys and girls departments in 1949, and his commercial high school which opened in 1957. He had a love for young people and they held him in high esteem in return. It was his dream to prepare young people "from kindergarten to college." And he did. He was particularly honored when, on his 90th birthday, Cardinal Cooke renamed the high school as Monsignor Scanlan High School.

 In a Holy Name bulletin, dated October 1944, these words were written: "Will the spirit of St. Helena's Parish continue after the beginning days are a matter of history? Is this unusual spirit a flash in the pan or will it last?”

 Birth:  Oct. 9, 1881

Death:  Nov. 21, 1974
Parkchester, Bronx County, New York, USA

Founder and Pastor Of St. Helena's Roman Catholic Church, in Parkchester 1940

Ordained July 21, 1907

STUDENT REMEMBRANCES:

Monsignor added on to Our Church and built the Grammar School and then soon after Our High School.

Monsignor told all of us not to worry, that there will always be a spot at the High School for us.

He started the first Friday Night Dances that lasted into the Fifties and the Sixties 

What a collection of 45 rpm records.

The Priests and Nuns were always there.

"Separate for the Holy Ghost," we use to hear from them in those days.

With a Big Smile. They learned Our Rock and Roll Era. 

Sat. Afternoon in the Auditorium of our Church, we had roller skating,

Yes, shoe skates with wooden wheels. I still have mine. 

On Sunday, the auditorium was used for the extra Masses. 

On the stage, is where they put the altar. 

He started yearly School Plays, and they still continue to this day. 

We had 56 students in a class, all taught by one Nun..amazing ..

Father got a School Band started, Fife and Drum, they were great.

When he gave out Our Report Cards every 6 months, in the Auditorium, he would tell all of us Kids, Put it on the Table and run into your Room. 

We all mostly came from Parkchester then, and they were all medium size apartments. Some of us are Still Here.

Monsignor would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He sent many Kids through the High School without worrying about the money for tuition and books

Monsignor's Confession Line in those days went out the church doors. WHY?????????? ... He would tell you, "Say 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary" and I will see you at Mass.

Oh, Those Wonderful Years Here in the N E Bronx 

~~~~~~~

THANK YOU MONSIGNOR, FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEART'S.
We all Turned Out OK

Parents:
   Michael A Scanlan (1853 - 1934)
   Maria O'Keeffe Scanlan (1857 - 1899)

Siblings:
  Lawrence A Scanlan (1878 - 1975)*
  Martin A Scanlan (1879 - 1963)*
  Arthur J Scanlan (1881 - 1974)
  Frances M Scanlan (1884 - 1972)*
  Michael A Scanlan (1892 - 1967)*
  Patrick Francis Scanlan (1895 - 1983)*
  Joseph A Scanlan (1899 - 1984)*

Burial:
  Calvary Cemetery