1864 – 1922 (December 21)

Laurence Augustine Delurey was born in Easton, New York, on May 15, 1864, one of 7 children of Daniel Delurey and Catherine Sheridan, Irish immigrants who operated a farm near Schaghticoke, N.Y. Laurence was baptized in the Church of St. John in Schaghticoke by Fr. Louis Edge, O.S.A., an early pioneer of the American Province. After attending local schools and Valley Falls High School, Laurence matriculated at Villanova College from 1881 to 1884. He entered the novitiate at Villanova, Pennsylvania in 1885, and professed first vows on August 29, 1886. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Patrick Ryan of Philadelphia on March 15, 1890 in the Philadelphia Cathedral.

Father Delurey’s first assignment was to Our Mother of Consolation Parish, Chestnut Hill, from which he also ministerd to the sisters and students at Chestnut Hill Convent. In 1891 he was assigned as Vice President, Procurator and professor at Villanova College. He remained there for 19 years, and in January, 1895, became President, while continuing to teach and moderate the Dramatic Society. In 1905, during his presidency, the opening of the Engineering School was announced and expansion of the college was undertaken. In June, 1910, Father Delurey resigned the presidency and was assigned to St. Rita in Chicago. He later served at San Agustin, Havana, Cuba. In January, 1919 he was assigned to Troy, New York, in declining health, suffering from acute asthma and a blood disorder. 

Father Delurey died in the General Hospital in Troy, N.Y., on December 21, 1922 at the age of 58. The Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. John’s Church, Schaghticoke, by Prior Provincial Nicholas Vasey, O.S.A., with Father Edward Dohan, O.S.A., Father Delurey’s successor as Villanova President, as homilist. Fahter Delurey was buried in Saint Saint John's Cemetery in Troy. Delurey Hall, a dormitory on the Villanova University campus, is named in his honor.