Father Raymond Dolan

Father Raymond Dolan

Although Carmelite Father Raymond J. Dolan, O. Carm. never stepped foot in Idaho, he was a priest of the Diocese of Boise for 40 years. He served in New York and New Jersey, but he helped support the St. John Vianney Retirement Center in Boise. When he died at the age of 87 on June 30, 2017, he left a generous bequest to our diocese. This quiet priest was full of appreciation for Idaho, yet few in the state knew of him.

After Father Dolan was ordained on May 26, 1956 in New York, he worked with adolescent students who had learning disabilities. He loved this field of teaching and dedicated his time to becoming an expert, going on to teach at the university level, including at City University of New York on Staten Island.

In the mid-1970s, the Carmelites wanted him to change his career. The only way he could continue to work with the disabled was to find a bishop who would incarnate him as a priest of that bishop’s diocese. He contacted several dioceses, and one day at a USCCB meeting, Bishop Treinen responded to Father Dolan. Arrangements were made, and Father Dolan became a priest of the Diocese of Boise.

Father Dolan continued his academic work in the northeastern United States, but he kept in contact with the Bishops of Boise for the rest of his life. In gratitude, he made gifts to the diocese on a regular basis.

Father Dolan also made gifts to the Carmelites (who cared for him at the end of his life, when his needs were too great to stay with family) and to the other dioceses and archdioceses where he served.