A memorial Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Joseph Walter Drohan will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 25, at the Cathedral of Christ the King, 2699 Peachtree Road, NE. The celebrants for the Mass will be Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and the priests of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. All are invited to attend the Mass.

Father Drohan, a retired archdiocesan priest, died on April 26 at the age of 85 and was laid to rest in his hometown of Worcester, Mass.

Born on May 7, 1919, he served as a lieutenant in the military during World War II. He was one of the troops who landed on Omaha Beach in June 1941 as the Normandy invasion got underway, and he earned four campaign stars. Under Gen. 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 attended St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

Father Drohan was ordained to the priesthood on May 10, 1956. He served in a number of 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; and the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta. He also served as pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church, Atlanta; Mother of Our Divine Savior Church, Toccoa; and Sacred Heart Church, Milledgeville.

In addition, Father Drohan worked 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.