RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2016
A Worthy and Capable Clergyman
By Jennifer Kane
Jennifer Kane was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1962. After winning a scholarship named for the journalist/biographer, Jim Bishop, to St. Bonaventure University, she earned a B.S. degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and later an M.S. degree in English. She spent a brief time working as news director at radio station WMNS-AM housed in the very building Rev. John J. Hamel built as the parish rectory in 1880. Thus began the journey of more than 30 years getting to know her parish church across the street (St. Mary of the Angels) and some of the delightful priests who have pastored the Catholic community. While her career ventured into the field of marketing and corporate communications, she recently began in-depth research into the history of this fascinating parish, uncovering the lovely, courageous and all-but-forgotten story of Rev. Hamel, the first resident pastor. Jennifer is married to Stephen Kane and resides in Cuba,New York. They have two grown children.
He arrived in Olean, New York at age 26, ordained a Catholic priest just one year earlier in 1875. When Rev. John J. Hamel died in 1912, after ministering as first resident pastor of St. Mary of the Angels Church for 36 years, Olean witnessed the largest funeral ever held in the city up to that point in its history. Discover fascinating stories uncovered from the 19th Century revealing the beloved pastor and citizen known for his powerful yet gentle witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Bishop Stephen Vincent Ryan promised in 1876, he did, indeed, send to the Olean Catholic community, "a worthy and capable clergyman."
PURCHASE ON LINE $5.00: https://www.smaolean.org/fr-hamel-biography-book
