Rev. Msgr. Ralph A. Brennan

Rev. Msgr. Ralph A. Brennan, at the age of 82 and a priest for 54 years, died on February 11, 2012, in Austin, Texas. He was born on June 14, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles Brennan and Mary Regan Brennan. He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, and four brothers. He is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

He attended St. Mary's Seminary, Houston, and was ordained a Catholic priest on August 1, 1957, by Bishop Louis J. Reicher. He served in the following assignments in parishes of the Diocese of Austin: parochial vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waco (Bellmead) from 1957 to 1965, pastor of the same parish from 1965 to 1971, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Austin from 1972 to 1978, the founding pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Austin, and pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Brenham from 1985 to 1999 with the missions at Old Washington on the Brazos and Latium. He retired from full-time ministry in 1999. He then served at the Brother Vincent Pieau Residence of the Holy Cross Brothers near St. Edward's University in Austin.

Msgr. Brennan also served in the following capacities: part-time chaplain at the Waco Veteran's Administration Hospital, district moderator of the CYO and of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, moderator of the Waco Serra Club, Ministerial Alliance, co-chaplain of the Austin Serra Club, chairman of the 1972 Southwest Liturgical Conference, the Diocesan Vocation Committee, dean of the Austin Deanery, moderator of the Austin Deanery Council of Catholic Women, co-chair of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission, Austin Diocesan Tribunal, member of the Ethics Committee at Trinity Medical Center in Brenham, Brenham Ministerial Association, Diocesan Synod Commission, and dean of the Eastern Deanery. He received the title of Monsignor in 1987.

Most Rev. Joe S. Vásquez will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 15, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Austin, assisted by concelebrating priests of the diocese. The Vigil will be held at 7:00 p.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Austin on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Burial will take place on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Brenham, Texas.

The Diocese of Austin and the family are being assisted by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home on South Congress in Austin.