Reverend William John Killeen – Clergy Bio

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Reverend William John Killeen was educated at Catholic schools from a young age, attending Saint John the Baptist School in New Haven, Notre Dame High School in West Haven, and Fairfield University before entering Saint Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. He would go on to complete theological studies at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend John F. Hackett at Saint Lawrence O’Toole Church in Hartford on May 7, 1959, as the Cathedral had been destroyed by fire on December 31, 1956, and was in the midst of being rebuilt. Fr. Killeen’s early assignments were as Assistant Pastor at Saint Augustine Church in Hartford, Saint Mary Church in Union City, Saint Mary Church in Newington, Saint Joseph Church in Meriden, Saint Christopher Church in East Hartford, Saint Paul Church in West Haven, Saint Mary Church in Branford, and Saint Bridget Church in Manchester. He would continue serving the people of the Archdiocese of Hartford in additional roles including Temporary Administrator or Assistant Pastor at several additional parishes: Saint Boniface Church in New Haven, Holy Rosary Church in Ansonia, Saint Joseph Church in Bristol, Immaculate Conception Church in Waterbury, Saint George Church in Guilford, and Saint Mary Church in Milford. Fr. Killeen was then assigned as the Co-Pastor of Saint Jude Church in Derby before later being named as the Pastor of the parish, and he would remain in service to that community until his retirement from active ministry in 2009.