The funeral Mass for Father Edward D. Hennessey, associate pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, took place Tuesday morning, Jan. 22 at the cathedral.

Burial was at Arlington Cemetery where his grave is close by that of his longtime friend, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan. A wake service was held Jan. 21 at the cathedral.

Celebrant of the funeral Mass was Monsignor John Carlin, of Yonkers, who also celebrated the Mass for Nancy Donnellan, sister of the late archbishop, whose funeral took place Nov. 27 at the cathedral.

Principal concelebrants were Father Edward Dillon, vicar general of the archdiocese, and Father Thomas A. Kenny, cathedral rector. About 40 priests also concelebrated.

Father Hennessey, 79, died early Sunday, Jan. 20 at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He entered the hospital Dec. 18 and underwent a quadruple bypass the next day.

Father Hennessey, described by several friends as a quiet, kind priest, came to the archdiocese of Atlanta Feb. 2, 1982, at the invitation of Archbishop Donnellan. He retired Sept. 1, 1981 as pastor of St. Theresa Church in Kenilworth, N.J. He had been pastor there since 1966.

He remained a priest of the archdiocese of Newark, N.J., where he also served before his retirement, as a hospital chaplain, director of the archdiocesan Council of Catholic Nurses, and as a pro-synodal judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

He was appointed an assistant at Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta after coming to Atlanta in 1982. On July 17, 1987, Monsignor John F. McDonough, archdiocesan administrator during the illness of Archbishop Donnellan, appointed him to the cathedral.

Father Hennessey was described by Father Kenny as an avid golfer who played the game whenever he could. The Cathedral rector also described him as a “great lover of the sick,” who spent much of his time visiting people confined to the hospital and their homes. “He was dear to them and dear to his friends,” Father Kenny remarked.

He was “family” for Nancy Donnellan after her brother’s death and during her brief illness before her death Nov. 23.

He and Archbishop Donnellan became friends after meeting while vacationing at an Adirondack ski resort. Both were with groups of priests staying in the same inn. The two groups joined up that winter and for 10 winters after that.

Father Hennessey was ordained in 1939 at the cathedral in Newark after preparing for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, N.J.

He is survived by a brother, Father Francis Hennessey, and a sister, Gertrude H. Klein, both of New Jersey.