Archives and Records
Bishop Edward John O'Dea
 

Most Reverend Edward John O'Dea, D.D.
Consecrated Bishop of Nesqually, September 8, 1896
See transferred to Seattle, September 11, 1907
Died Christmas Day, December 25, 1932

Edward John O’Dea was ordained the third Bishop of Nesqually on September 8, 1896. The See was transferred from Vancouver to Seattle on September 11, 1907.

Bishop O’Dea was born on November 23, 1856, in Boston and moved to the West coast as a child. The first U.S.-born bishop of the diocese, Bishop O’Dea guided the diocese through the turmoil of World War I, financial difficulties, and the anti-Catholic sentiment engendered by Initiative 49 (a Ku Klux Klan-sponsored initiative to make private and parochial schools illegal). He encouraged lay organization and piety, fostered Americanization for immigrants, and supported the social and charitable works of women religious (such as St. Frances Xavier Cabrini).  He moved the See of the diocese from Vancouver to Seattle, realizing that Vancouver was no longer the economic and population center it had once been. O’Dea was known as a great builder of Catholic institutions.  His goal was to have churches within reach of all his people. His final accomplishment was the establishment of St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington.
 
Bishop O’Dea died on Christmas Day, 1932.

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