John S. Monagan - Horace B. McKenna, SJ Collection

John Stephen Monagan (1911-2005) was born in Waterbury, and received his early education at Driggs, St. Mary's, and Crosby high schools there. He received his Bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1933 and later attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1937. In 1938 he was admitted to the Connecticut bar and commenced the practice of law in his home town of Waterbury the same year. Monagan held numerous commercial and political positions including president of the Waterbury Board of Alderman (1940-1943); mayor of Waterbury (1943-1948); member of the board of directors of the Waterbury Savings Bank; and delegate at the Democratic National Conventions (1944, 1948, 1960, 1964, 1968).

He was also a congressman in the US House of Representatives (D-Conn., 1959-1973). After an unsuccessful campaign for reelection in 1972, he resumed the practice of law. Monagan also published various works including Horace: Priest of the Poor (1985) and The Grand Panjandrum: Mellow Year of Justice Holmes (1988). Monagan married Rosemary Brady in 1949 with whom he had five children: Charles, Michael, Parthy, Laura, and Susan.

Fr. Horace B. McKenna (1899-1982) was born in New York City to Charles F. McKenna (1861-1930) and Laura J. O’Neill McKenna (1860-1900). He was the sixth of eight children who survived to adulthood, alongside Mary E. "May" (1886-1976), Daniel M. (1889-1969), Charles F., Jr. (1890-1967), Helen (1893-1976), William "Bill" A. (1894-1946), Laura M. (1900-1950), and Elizabeth "Betty" (1906-2003). McKenna attended Fordham Preparatory School (1913–1916) before entering the Society of Jesus at St. Andrew-on-Hudson, where he completed his novitiate and juniorate (1916–1920). He then studied philosophy at Woodstock College (1921–1923), followed by a regency that included teaching assignments at Ateneo de Manila in the Philippines (1924), Boston College High School (1925), and St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia (1926). Returning to Woodstock for theological studies (1927–1930), he was ordained in 1930.

Following ordination, McKenna was stationed in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, where he served from 1932 to 1953 at St. Michael’s Church in Ridge. From there, he ministered to the Black Catholic community at nearby St. Peter Claver Church. He also served as superior of the St. Michael’s Jesuit community from 1936 to 1946. McKenna’s later ministry centered in Washington, DC, where he was assigned to St. Aloysius Church (1952–1958, 1964–1982), with an interim period as assistant pastor at the Church of the Gesù in Philadelphia (1958-1964). At St. Aloysius, he played a key role in developing several community initiatives: he helped establish the Sursum Corda Cooperative in 1968, a low-income housing project just north of the parish; he founded SOME (So Others Might Eat) in 1977, which began as a soup kitchen and grew into a comprehensive service center offering food, medical care, and counseling for the poor and homeless; and he co-founded Martha’s Table in 1980, serving low-income families in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.

The basement of St. Aloysius became a hub of social outreach, housing the St. Vincent de Paul Society--where community members could seek assistance--and hosting McKenna’s informal Sunday afternoon "coffee klatsch." After his death in 1982, the outreach center at St. Aloysius was renamed the McKenna Center in his honor.