East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-10-23
CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
LED MOST USEFUL LIFE
tBy Father o'Sulliyanl

/ among the lcperS or Iar OH emma
these 20 years past. and before that
| one OF the pioneers Of eastern Ore
/ gon and Umatilla county especially.
| Father Louis Lambert Conrardy.
passed recently TO his reward in the
hospital OF the sisters OF st. Paul.
Hong Kong. China. whittier he had
betaken himself from the leper col
/ ony OF the Chinese government on the
island Of Shek Luny, OF which he
was the resident priest. Very prob
ably he had a presentiment of his
approaching end. II came August
%. after a few days only OF illness.
Father Conrardy was a native OF
Belgium and was about the age Of
20 at the time Of his death. His
exact age Is not known at this writ
ing In the letter announcing the
sad news OF his decease. which Is
dated September I. 1914. his friend
and successor at Shek-Luny. Father
Deswajieres, assigns no immediate
cause OF death. but simply states that
It came 10 take him without a sim
gle minute of agony: God In His
mercy had spared him the pangs OF
death and had been pleased to admit
him to his eternal reward, for the
feast OF his holy patron, ST. Louis.
king Of France" That feast occurred
the day following his death. The end
must have come therefore from sheer
exhaustion. the result OF long and
energetic missionary life, notably in
the last 20 years spent as the resi-
dent priest in charge Of the leper
asylum at Shek-Luny. neighborhood
OF Hong Kong.
1t was in 1896, when already pass
ed so that ne left the United States
for China. with the express purpose
OF giving the rest Of HIS days TO the
lepers. To fit himself better for the
task he had taken course in medi-
cine from 1890 to 1895 in Portland.
where he also got his degree as doc
tor in medicine. He realized he could
do more for the souls of the afflict-
ed lepers if qualified to tighten their
bodily sufferings.
Prior to 1890. or from 1875 TO
1855. Father Conrariy had lived and
labored here in Umatilla county. /
among the Umatilla Indians. especial !
" those on the reservation, but also
for the Catholic people OF Pendle- |
ton and the other towns and country
districts Of this county. also OF Nor
row. then a part Of it, and he also |
visited Union.
From 1855 to 1880 he was in Mo-
lokai. the leper colony Of the Ha-
waiian Islands. having gone thither 4
to assist the heroic Father Damien. /
already succumbing under the weight
OF a lifelong apostolate for those
poor outcasts. II was doubtless in
Molokai that Father COnrardy fully !
graspei the Importance II not neces-
sity of a knowledge of medicine for
successful missionary work among
that afflicted class. Hence his re-
turn to Portland. Oregon. in 1890, to !
take up medicine. He did not, how
ever. leave the lepers OF Molokai un-
cared for, as a nephew Of Father
Damien had arrived among them
from Belgium that year 1sss-s0 to
continue his uncle's work.
But a few words more as to Faith !
er Conrardy's labors here. In 1874
the late, lamented Major n. Cornoy-
er. L. S. o. V, Indian agent on the
Umatilla reservation, met Father
Conrardy at Walla Walla. Much
taken with his genial personality, he
earnestly invited him to take charge
OF the Catholic school and chapel or
s.. AIMS Indian mission-as it was
then and for years after called-at
the old agency. school and chapel
were at that time in the one build
ing. a modest log structure, like the
rest Of the pioneer houses. 1t wai
put up in 1871. Several years be-
fore that. however. there was an In
dian school and chapel for the Cath
olic redmen in an "ell" apartment on
the Cornoyer residence on the same
reservation or agency grounds. II
may be remarked in passing. that the
first or old agency site seems not to
have been decided upon by the gov
ernment much before 1868. The
first substantial buildings were put
up only the latter year. The site
corresponded with one Of the prin- |
cipal old-time camping grounds of
the Umatillas. for it was in that i'm
mediate vicinity that Father ]. b.
Brouillet first met the Umatillas and
erected the first st. AIMS in lS47.
The name of the locality (south bank
OF the Umatilla at that point) is still
preserved in the little Mission"
which is given to the O.-W. r. & y. I
grain warehouse section.
St. AIMS log chapel Of 1871, the
theater Of Father Conrardys mis-
sionary labors in these parts after !
he came in 1875. stood in a hollow or
depression OF the old agency's inn /
mediate grounds; the government
buildings occupied the bluff just to
the west. That old site is some five
miles east Of the Pendleton OF today /
II is a mile west Of the new agency
site Z: 1906 ana just a trifle north /
of the county road, whereas the new
site is south little; both are in lit
tie from the road.
In 1929 Father Conrardy moved I
st. AIMS mission from the old agency
IN a Iocafion five miles southeast,