Retired Atlanta archdiocesan priest Father Joseph Walter Drohan died on April 25 at the age of 85. The funeral will take place on Saturday, April 30, in Worcester, Mass., at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Cathedral. The visitation will be on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. The Archdiocese of Atlanta asks for prayer for the repose of his soul and for his family.

Father Drohan was born in Worcester on May 7, 1919. He served as a lieutenant in the military during World War II, landing on Omaha Beach in June 1941 as the Normandy invasion got underway and earning four campaign stars. Under General Mark Clarke, the future Father Drohan took his men all the way to Berlin. After the war he worked as a salesman for two years and then graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 10, 1956. He held many assignments in the Atlanta Archdiocese, including as parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Church, Decatur; Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta; St. John the Evangelist Church, Hapeville; the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta; as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church, Atlanta; Mother of Our Divine Savior Church, Toccoa; and Sacred Heart Church, Milledgeville. He also served as a religion teacher at St. Pius X High School and chaplain of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home for those terminally ill with cancer.