BRIDGEPORT—Reverend Edward A. Colohan passed away at St. Vincent’s Medical Center on Thursday March 14, 2019, at the age of 86.
Father Colohan’s body will be received at Saint Stephen Church located at 6948 Main Street, Trumbull, at 9:30 AM on Friday, March 22, 2019 and will lie in repose until the Funeral Mass, which will begin at 11:00 AM. Monsignor Thomas W. Powers will be the celebrant, and Monsignor Laurence R. Bronkiewicz will be the homilist. Those concelebrating the Mass should wear diocesan vestments.
“Father Colohan will be remembered for his intellectual, writing and teaching skills along with the warm and caring pastoral ministry that he brought to so many over the years. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father Colohan and for the consolation of his family,” said Bishop Caggiano in announcing his passing.
Born and raised in Norwalk, Father Colohan was ordained at St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport in 1961 by Bishop Lawrence J. Shehan, first bishop of Bridgeport. Following ordination, Father Colohan taught at Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, the former Central Catholic High School in Norwalk and Immaculate High School in Danbury.
In 1968, he became a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, where he served for 24 years in positions as Senior Catholic Chaplain at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., and at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. He was decorated for meritorious service 11 times and cited by the command chaplain of the Strategic Air Command as the outstanding chaplain major in 1979.
He retired from the service with honors and citation by Chief of Staff USAF in 1992 with the rank of colonel and returned to the diocese as parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Shelton, before coming to St. Stephen Parish in Trumbull in 1993, where he served as pastor for 11 years.
Father Colohan also taught at Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, the former Central Catholic High School in Norwalk and Immaculate High School in Danbury.
Father Colohan earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, a master’s degree in Religious Education from Loyola University in Chicago, and a master of science degree in Counseling from Troy State University in New York. He also graduated from St. Thomas Seminary Junior College in 1953.
After retiring in 2004, Father Colohan became a regular contributor to the Connecticut Post clergy column and other publications, where he wrote on a wide range of social and spiritual topics.
