Joseph F. Stedman

The Right Reverend Monsignor Joseph F. Stedman (March 11, 1898 – March 23, 1946) was a well-known American priest and author of books about Roman Catholicism.

Biography

Joseph Steadman was born to Joseph and Ellen Steadman in Brooklyn, New York as one of five children. After attending St. Joseph's Parochial School and St. Francis Preparatory School, he entered St. Francis College in Brooklyn, but left after his junior year he entered Fordham College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, and then enter the St. John’s Seminary in Brooklyn. He was ordained in May 1921, and was assigned to Holy Child Jesus Parish in Richmond Hill, Queens. From 1925, Father Stedman was chaplain of the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn. He was also Director of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood, which was erected in 1925 at the Monastery Chapel of the Cloistered Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood. In 1944 Father Steadman was elevated to Monsignor .

His writings include My Sunday Missal, with illustrations by Ade Bethune, as well as My Military Missal, My Daily Readings from the Four Gospels, the "Triple" Novena Manual, and My Lenten Missal. At the time of his death, it was noted that more than 13,000,000 copies of his books had been sold. He died of a brain tumor at the age of forty-eight, at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Steadman Square

Steadman Square, located at the intersection of Third Avenue and Senator Street in Brooklyn, is named in honor of Joseph Steadman. It was the terminus for the Third Avenue Trolley line until the late 1950s, when busses replaced the City’s trolley service. Thereafter, the site was transformed into the triangle’s present form. The sitting area is enclosed by wrought iron fencing and paved with both red cement blocks and hex block paving stones. Fifteen World’s Fair benches surround a woodchip-filled area planted with various shrubs. The area is lit by two lamp and surrounded by red maple (Acer rubrum), honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and London planetrees (Platanus x acerifolia).

References

• "Msgr Stedman Dies; Wrote on Religion". The New York Times. 1946-03-24. Retrieved 2008-12-22.