Legacy of service, love for people
Father Sheridan was ordained in 1963 and served in what was then mission territory in western North Carolina. (File, Catholic News Herald)
HIGH POINT — Father Edward J. Sheridan, known for his love of people and his tireless advocacy for Catholic education, died peacefully Oct. 18, 2026, at Pennybyrn in High Point. He was 89.
Father SheridanFather Sheridan was among the founding leaders of the Diocese of Charlotte, serving Catholics and communities across western North Carolina for more than six decades in parishes, schools and other ministries – including as the diocese’s first superintendent of schools, first youth ministry director, and first director of the Catholic Conference Center.
Known for his cheerful spirit, humility and faith, Father Sheridan had a profound impact on his parishioners, family, friends and fellow priests.
“He was such a decent priest, a gentleman, in the way he handled himself and the way he treated people,” said friend and former parishioner Marc Swinnen, who visited with Father Sheridan just last week.
“He loved being a priest,” agreed long-time friend Monsignor John McSweeney. “I admired that Ed, no matter what he was asked to do, was always completely focused on the pastoral needs of the people in that particular parish or ministry.”
Helen Drozd, a fellow Pennybyrn resident, said Father Sheridan “knew everyone’s name – from housekeepers to the wait staff to management. He ministered to people almost to his last breath, listening to their problems and hearing confessions. He was such an accessible person yet always a priest, a humble servant of God.” Read tributes from across the diocese below.
Father Sheridan loved animals and always had dogs, his friends and fellow priests remember. Here, he’s blessing animals for the feast of St. Francis of Assisi in 2006, outside St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte. (File, Catholic News Herald)
MISSIONARY-MINDED PRIEST
Edward Joseph Sheridan was born Sept. 8, 1937, in New York City to William and Christina (Mangan) Sheridan, both Irish immigrants.
In elementary school, he felt called toward serving people as a priest. In 1957, he entered Christ the King Seminary at St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy, sacred Scripture and Church history.
He wanted to be a missionary priest, so while still in seminary he applied and was chosen to serve in North Carolina, where Catholics made up less than 1% of the population.
On May 23, 1963, he was ordained for the Diocese of Raleigh by Bishop Vincent Waters at Church of the Holy Child (now Infant of Prague Church) in Jacksonville. At the time, the Raleigh diocese encompassed all of North Carolina and reportedly had the smallest Catholic population of any diocese in the United States.
His first assignment was to serve tiny missions in Newton Grove, Mt. Olive and Wallace. He also quickly became involved in Catholic education, serving as coordinator at Bishop McGuinness Memorial High School, then located in Winston-Salem, and at William Gaston Memorial High School in New Bern.
In 1968, he was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Brevard and coordinator of Asheville Catholic High School. He oversaw missions in Highlands and Sapphire Valley, and served as youth director for the western part of the state.
Father Sheridan served as pastor at St. Gabriel Parish twice, in the 1990s and early 2000s. Parishioner Jane Childrey said, “Father Ed was the absolute greatest. He married my husband and I and presided over his funeral. He lived a great life and loved us all.” (File, Catholic News Herald)
FOUNDING LEADER
When the Diocese of Charlotte was established in 1972, its first bishop, Michael Begley, appointed Father Sheridan as the diocese’s first superintendent of schools. Father Sheridan was then completing a master’s degree in educational administration. In line with his new responsibilities, Bishop Begley transferred him from Asheville to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Monroe and later to St. Ann Parish in Charlotte.
As superintendent, Father Sheridan oversaw 21 schools serving more than 5,600 students, helped establish a diocesan Board of Education, and worked closely with Bishop Begley to champion racial equality and ensure the diocese’s schools remained integrated rather than becoming what he called “havens or escapes” for anyone seeking to avoid desegregation laws at the time.
In 1976, he returned to full-time parish ministry, serving as pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Asheville, Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Winston-Salem, and St. Aloysius Parish in Hickory.
Catholic education remained important to him, and in 1983 he again took on a leadership role, serving as the diocese’s Vicar for Education.
In 1987, he was called upon to oversee the construction of the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory and became its first director.
Two years later, he was appointed pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Charlotte. In 1998, he returned to St. Aloysius, serving there for six years before returning to St. Gabriel in 2004.
Father Sheridan also served the diocese as a priest consultor, member of the Seminarian Formation Committee, and vicar forane of the Winston-Salem and Charlotte Vicariates.
He retired in 2007 but came out of retirement to serve as pastor of St. Eugene Parish in Asheville and Asheville Catholic School from 2009 to 2011.
Even after retirement, “Father Ed” never stopped bringing the love of Christ to people – ministering to the sick, filling in at Masses, and offering “Mass in the Grass” outside his home in Hickory during the Covid-19 pandemic. Always present at Mass was his beloved companion Callie, an Australian Shepherd.
In 2024, the pair moved to Pennybyrn in High Point, where they quickly made friends and he regularly offered Mass at Maryfield Chapel.
Besides his parents, Father Sheridan was preceded in death by his brother, John “Bill,” and sister-in-law, Maureen Sheridan.
Survivors include niece Cathy Sheridan of Clifton Park, New York; niece Patricia Sheridan and her three children, Kaitlin Montanaro, Nick Montanaro (Madison) and Anthony Montanaro (Joycelynn), and two great-grand-nieces and a great-grand-nephew, all from Massachusetts; nephew, John Sheridan (Maryellen); grandnieces Grace and Olivia; grandnephew Ian; and cousins in Ireland.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle
ARRANGEMENTS
The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at St. Aloysius Church, 921 2nd St. N.E., Hickory, N.C. 28601. Bishop Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv., will be the principal celebrant. Visitation will be held prior to the Mass, from 10-10:45 a.m. Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York, next to his parents.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Catholic education scholarship that Father Sheridan established in honor of his parents: the Sheridan-Mangan Endowment Fund, c/o Diocese of Charlotte Foundation, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203.
‘Truly the people’s priest’
CHARLOTTE — A wonderful priest. A real man of the people. The absolute greatest.
Those are the words of friends and former parishioners who flooded Facebook following the news that “Father Ed” Sheridan had died.
He “always provided comfort and a warm smile to those in need,” Aurelie May wrote as part of the lengthy tribute.
“He showed all of us how to live well and do good,” said Helen Drozd.
From Tina Isbell Spencer: “His humility, compassion, empathy, fairness, kindness, and Christ-like love touched everyone who knew him in a profound and lasting way. He was truly the people’s priest, loved and adored by all.”
Pennybyrn’s chaplain Father Patrick Hoare remembers Father Sheridan as a priest who genuinely loved people – and was loved in return: “He was very supportive of people, especially when they were hurting. He had a heart for that.”
Monsignor John McSweeney and Father Frank O’Rourke, fellow priests of Irish descent, looked up to Father Sheridan when they were young and the group, along with the late Father Bill Pharr, became close friends – and travel buddies – over the years.
“He was welcoming and encouraging,” recalls Father O’Rourke, who was a young seminarian when he first met Father Sheridan. “He was engaging and generous with people, and he put his gifts at the service of the Kingdom.”
Diocesan development director Jim Kelley worked with Father Sheridan for more than four decades on numerous capital projects.
“In one of the parish capital campaigns at St. Gabriel, Father Ed actually visited over 60 families in their homes asking them to make a pledge,” Kelley recalled. “No other pastor had ever visited that many families in a parish campaign.”
Kelley and others also remember how Father Sheridan touched people’s hearts. After coming out of retirement in 2009 to serve at St. Eugene Parish and Asheville Catholic School, Father Sheridan’s example so impressed one parishioner that she donated $1.4 million to an endowment he had set up in honor of his late parents. Now exceeding $2 million, the Sheridan-Mangan Endowment Fund helps make Catholic education affordable for more families.
“Father Ed was passionate in his conviction that Catholic education should be accessible to any family who desired it for their children,” noted Monsignor John McSweeney.
Bishop Michael Martin, who will celebrate Father Sheridan’s funeral Mass on Nov. 5 at St. Aloysius Church in Hickory, where he served for many years, said, “I’m sorry that I only had the honor of knowing him for a little over two years, but in that short span he so impressed me by his love of the Church...I will miss his friendship, as I know will many of his brother priests in the diocese.”
Everywhere he served, Father Sheridan was known for his kindness and quick smile. He seldom forgot a name and delighted in sharing his Irish heritage, particularly through unforgettable pilgrimages he led across Ireland. He even learned to play the mountain dulcimer, mastering a few hymns and Irish tunes.
He was athletic – running in the New York City Marathon multiple times – and he enjoyed tennis and playing golf, especially with his niece Cathy Sheridan, who jokes, “We’re both still waiting for a hole-in-one!”
Fellow Pennybyrn resident Helen Drozd printed business cards for Father Sheridan that featured a photo of his Australian Shepherd, Callie. Drozd was grateful for his pastoral outreach last summer as her husband declined in health and passed away. (Photo provided by Helen Drozd) He also loved the outdoors. At his home in Mountain View, he enjoyed working the land and spending time with his loyal dogs. He frequently gave away flowers he’d grown and firewood cut from his fallen trees on his property in Hickory, and at Pennybyrn – when folks wanted him to have an escort – he’d sneak away with his dog Callie to walk the trails on the vast wooded campus.
Friends, fellow priests and his niece Patty Sheridan also can’t forget his competitive streak when playing Rummikub, a tile game combining Rummy and Mahjong. He eagerly recruited anyone willing to play – and relished winning – and did just that two days before he died.
His sense of humor was also legendary.
“He was an absolute riot!” remembered Hannah Reid Burgin, whose mother worked for Father Sheridan when he was pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Newton. Her then-newlywed mom once “undercooked a turkey because she didn’t know the oven was broken and the light inside was the only heat source. Father Ed never let her live it down as he was an excellent cook. For Christmas that year he wrapped a frozen butterball turkey and attached a card that said, ‘Your specialty!’ …
“What an incredible priest and a great guy!”