From Shamokin’s Classrooms to Diocesan Service

Three careers, one hometown

In July 1954, three Shamokin natives appeared together in the town’s news: Thomas J. Bartol, William J. Burke and Robert J. Maher. The Shamokin News-Dispatch reported that the Harrisburg Catholic Diocese had named them domestic prelates, an honor carrying the title of monsignor. They were among five priests included in the announcement by Bishop George L. Leech.

Their careers had taken them to parishes, classrooms and administrative offices beyond Shamokin. Two had graduated from St. Edward High School; one had taught in a seminary before becoming a parish pastor. Read together, their paths connect local schooling with decades of work in churches and educational institutions across the diocese.

Thomas Bartol: from the seminary to St. Anthony’s

Bartol studied at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. The newspaper placed his ordination on December 16, 1916, in the seminary chapel, with Bishop Edward Kelley officiating. For the next three years, he remained there as a professor.

In 1919, Bartol became pastor of St. Anthony Church at Brady. He was still serving that parish when the 1954 honor was announced. His responsibilities also extended into diocesan affairs: the report named him as a member of the building commission, an examiner of clergy and a pro-synodal judge. The parish appointment was the long center of a working life that had begun in teaching.

William Burke: school work and parish leadership

Burke’s education began with graduation from St. Edward High School in Shamokin. He continued at St. Vincent’s preparatory school, college and seminary in Latrobe and at St. Charles Seminary in Overbrook. The report gave May 26, 1923, as his ordination date.

After assignments in several Harrisburg Diocese parishes, Burke became chaplain and rector of Paradise School at Abbottstown on July 18, 1934. He held that position for eleven years. In 1945, he became pastor of St. Columba in Bloomsburg; two years later, he was appointed dean of the northern portion of the diocese. School administration, parish care and a wider supervisory role followed one another in his career.

Robert Maher: education as a diocesan responsibility

Maher was another St. Edward High School graduate who studied at St. Vincent in Latrobe and St. Charles in Overbrook. Bishop Leech ordained him at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg on May 22, 1937. His early parish assignments took him to York, Kulpmont and Columbia.

In 1941, Maher became principal of Lebanon Catholic High School. During his five years in Lebanon, he also served as moderator of a USO center on North Eighth Street. His duties joined the work of a school with a wartime community institution.

The diocesan school system became his principal field of work. He was appointed assistant superintendent of schools on January 1, 1946, and superintendent on June 12, 1947. By 1954, he was president of the Catholic Educational Association of Pennsylvania and a member of the governing board of the National Catholic Educational Association. The article also identified him as superintendent and chaplain of Sylvan Heights Home in Harrisburg.

The shared honor brought these different careers back into Shamokin’s public view. Bartol’s seminary and long parish service, Burke’s school and pastoral appointments, and Maher’s educational leadership were not one identical path. Together, they show how people associated with a hometown could carry their work into institutions serving a much wider region.