Raymond Joseph Gallagher

Raymond Gallagher was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Hugh and Ella (née Reedy) Gallagher.[1] He was educated at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School (1918–1926) and Cathedral Latin High School (1926–1930).[1] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, in 1934, and attended St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1934 to 1939.[1]

Gallagher was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Joseph Schrembs for the Diocese of Cleveland on March 25, 1939.[2] After his ordination, Gallagher served as a curate at St. Colman Parish in Cleveland (1939–1944). In 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, serving there until 1946. [3] In 1948, Gallagher earned a Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University Chicago and became assistant director of diocesan Catholic Charities.[1]

Pope Pius XII named Gallagher a papal chamberlain in 1955.[1] Between 1958 and 1959, he was a member of the President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Commission on Child Welfare, becoming chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960.[3] He served as general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Charities from 1961 to 1965.[3]

On June 21, 1965, Gallagher was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana by Pope Paul VI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on August 11, 1965, from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Leo Byrne and Clarence Issenmann serving as co-consecrators.[2]

On October 26, 1982, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation as bishop of Lafayette.[2] Raymond Gallagher died in Muncie, Indiana, on March 7, 1991, at age 78.