1886 – 1967 (July 29)
Philip Leo Colgan was born on April 10, 1886, in Conewago, Pennsylvana, to Francis Colgan and Elizabeth Dougherty. He was received into the novitiate at Villanova on June 25, 1910, and made his first profession on June 25, 1911. He was solemnly professed on the same day in 1914. After receivng his B.A. from Villanova College he continued on there for theological studies, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 1916.
In 1917, Father Colgan was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Staten Island, New York, and the following year was transferred to Villanova where he served as the head of the Preparatory School. In 1920 he was assigned to Saint Mary's Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1926 Father Colgan was appointed prior and headmaster of Malvern Preparatory and, in 1928, was named procurator at Villanova College. In 1934 he became prior and pastor of Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish in Los Angeles, California. In 1938 he was named prior and pastor of Saint Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
Father Colgan remained as pastor at Saint Clare's until shortly before his death caused by a cerebral hemorrhage on July 29, 1967. He was buried in the Augustinian plot adjoining Saint Mary’s Hall, Villanova, until 1980, when the graves of the friars were removed to Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, PA.
