1876 – 1940 (April 1)
Henry Thomas Conway, son of Thomas Conway and Susan McKeon, was born on October 27, 1876, in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and was baptized on November 5, 1876, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. He attended Villanova College where he won all-American recognition as a football player, and as a Villanova baseball player received many offers from major league baseball clubs. Instead, on May 4, 1897, he entered the novitiate at Villanova, professed simple vows on May 4, 1898, and solemn vows on May 29, 1901. He studied philosophy and theology at Villanova College, Villanova, Pa. On February 5, 1902, he was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, by Edmond F. Prendergast, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia.
In 1902, Father Conway was assigned to the Parish of Saint Paul, Mechanicville, New York. Two years later he served at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in 1905, was appointed principal of Saint Nicholas Academy, Villanova. In 1916, he was transferred to Saint Laurence O'Toole Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he remained until, in 1920, he returned to Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Atlantic City. Between 1922 and 1924 he was a Definitor of the Province, and in 1924, was appointed prior and pastor of Saint Thomas Parish, Rosemont, Pa. Father Conway became the prior of the novitiate at New Hamburg, N.Y. in 1926, and, in 1932, prior of the Community of Saint Rita, Philadelphia, Pa. In 1935, due to failing health, he was assigned to Saint Thomas Monastery, Villanova, Pa.
On April 1, 1940, at the age of 64, Father Conway suffered a stroke and died at Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery. He was buried in the Augustinian Community Cemetery at Villanova, Pa.
