Twamley, Father John
1971, December 11
Date of Birth: 1894, October 25
John Henry Twamley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 25, 1894. His early education was in St. Paul’s Parochial School from 1901 to 1905, and at Calvert Hall from 1905 to 1908. He then attended Loyola High School for a year before going to St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland in 1909. He graduated in 1915. In that year he went to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, where he remained until 1930. In that year he went to the Sulpician Seminary (Theological College) at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1921.
After ordination, Father Twamley taught at St. Charles College until 1923. In 1923-1924 he made his Solitude at Catonsville. After Solitude he taught at St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View, California until 1926. In that year he went to Paris, to the Catholic Institute and the Sorbonne, for graduate studies. When he returned to the United States he acted as Socius in the Catonsville Solitude in 1927-1928. In 1928 he once again went to St. Joseph’s College. He remained there until 1936.
In 1936-1937 he was an assistant at the Church of St. Sulpice in Paris. The following year he was appointed as director in Issy. On returning to the United States in 1938, Father Twamley did parish work in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Then he moved west to Seattle, where he was stationed at St. Edward’s Seminary. Later he did parish work in Renton, Washington and chaplaincy work in a hospital in Vancouver, Washington. When he came back to the east, he taught briefly at St. Mary’s Seminary, Paca Street in 1955. He retired in 1956. After moving to St. Charles College, he entered St. Joseph’s Nursing Home in Catonsville. In 1967 he went to Stella Maris Hospice. He died on December 11, 1971.
Adapted from Father Twamley’s “Personal Data” sheet and from The Voice.