SNEADS FERRY - Dr. Joseph Francis Colligan of Sneads Ferry, NC, passed away at home March 3 after a long illness. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for him at Infant of Prague Church at 11 AM on Friday, March 9. Immediately following, the family will receive guests in the parish hall.
Born to Marie and Joseph P. Colligan on July 18, 1933, in Fort Wayne, IN, Dr. Colligan was second of ten children, attending St. Jude's Elementary School there and then Marmion Military Academy, Aurora, IL where he received his high school diploma in 1951.
Dr. Colligan was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, in 1954, and Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, Chicago IL, 1958. He completed his internship at Cook County Hospital of Chicago, concurrently earning an MA in philosophy from DePaul University, Chicago, in 1959. He continued graduate work in philosophic psychology at the University of Notre Dame for a Ph.D. pending completion of a dissertation in 1964. He completed residency training in adult, adolescent and child psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI in 1968, and held a fellowship in community psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 1968-69.
His career in medicine began with five years of general practice in Buchanan, MI where he was on the staff of Pawating Community Hospital, Niles, MI, city health commissioner, and Berrien County deputy medical examiner. In over fifty years of psychiatric practice his positions included lecturer in community psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; chief psychiatric consultant, Boston Public Schools (during the court ordered integration of the schools); consultant, Boston Housing Authority; assistant clinical professor Tufts University School of Medicine; director, Laboure Mental Health Center, Boston; associate professor of the Medical University of South Carolina; clinical associate professor, University of Tennessee School of Medicine; staff psychiatrist, Peninsula Psychiatric Hospital, Knoxville, TN; medical (and opening) director, Brynn Marr Hospital, Jacksonville, NC; medical director, psychiatric unit, Duplin General Hospital, Kenansville, NC. He also maintained a private practice continuously until his retirement in 2008 in Jacksonville, NC.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Gretchen Rauch Colligan of the home, and sons Dr. Joseph Jr.(Hilary) of Lake Forest, IL, Sean (Jenifer) of Parkville, MO, Daniel (Laura) of Scottsdale, AZ, Kevin (Laura) of Alexandria, VA, Terrance of Sneads Ferry; and grandchildren Eleanor and Margaret Colligan; Rachel, Aidan and Rory Colligan; Dominic Colligan; and Emily and John Colligan.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Food for the Poor, Inc., 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for him at Infant of Prague Church at 11 AM on Friday, March 9.