Submitted by: Dan Rich
Rev. John L. Reedy CSC
Nov. 16, 1925 – Dec. 2, 1983
South Bend Tribune 12/4/1983
Rev. John L. Reedy CSC, 58, publisher
of the Ave Maria Press, died at 9:10 p.m. in St. Joseph Medical
Center after a lengthy illness. Father Reedy spent his 31 years
as a priest in Catholic journalism and publishing. He had been
publisher of the Ave Maria Press, a publishing house based at the
University of Notre Dame, since 1963. He was editor of “Ave
Maria”, a Catholic magazine for 16 years, until the magazine
ceased publication in 1970. For ten years until 1980, he
published “A.D. Correspondence,” a bi-weekly religious
newsletter. Under Reedy’s tenure as editor, “Ave Maria”
moved away from traditional articles on religious topics,
addressing contemporary secular issues such as race relations and
the Vietnam War.
Father Reedy was also publisher of Spiritual
Book Associates, and was a syndicated columnist for Catholic
diocesan newspapers and for the national edition of “Our
Sunday Visitor”. In 1966 he received the Catholic Press
Association award for outstanding contributions to Catholic
journalism. From 1965 to 1973 and from 1979 until his death,
Father Reedy was provincial secretary of the Indian Province of
the Congregation of Holy Cross. He was 1974-75 president of the
board of directors of the Urban League of South Bend. Father
Reedy was assistant rector of Carroll Hall, where he lived at
Notre Dame.
Born on Nov. 16, 1925 in Newport, Ky., he
entered Holy Cross Seminary at Notre Dame in 1943, and mad his
first profession of vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross in
1945. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1948 and was ordained in
thew priesthood on May 31, 1952, following studies at Holy Cross
College in Washington. He did graduate studies in journalism at
Notre Dame and Marquette University in 1952 and 1953. Father
Reedy is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Mary Brockschmidt
of Hobart and Sister Celeste Reedy SCN, of Louisville, and
a brother, Dr. Albert Reedy of Ft. Mitchell, Ky.