[1] After graduating from Spalding Institute in Peoria, he attended St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, Illinois, where he excelled in athletics.

[3] Upon his return to the United States, he served as chancellor and vicar general of the diocese, and rector of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

[3] He received his episcopal consecration on June 13, 1934, from Cardinal George Mundelein, with Bishops Joseph Schlarman and Henry Rohlman serving as co-consecrators.

[4] At the eighth National Eucharistic Congress in 1941, he spoke on labor-management relations, asserting that the employer must permit workers to engage in collective bargaining.

[5] He also called for a single union for both labor and capital, and suggested that long-serving employees should have a share in the management of an enterprise.