MANHATTAN BEACH — On Oct. 10, 1918, every priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn received a somber note from the chancery.

“Reverend dear Father,” it began. “You are hereby respectfully reminded of our fraternal agreement as members of the Priests Purgatorial Society, to say three Masses for the soul of Rev. Edward A. Wallace, Chaplain, U.S.A., who died recently in France.”

Father “Ed” Wallace, 33, served with the 80th Infantry Division and was “the first American priest to die in the service of his country in France,” according to the Oct. 12, 1918, edition of The Tablet.

A “snappy little figure of a doughboy, weighing about 135 pounds,” and a “prince of a good fellow” is how the 80th Infantry Division veteran’s association described him in its magazine, “The Service.”

This biographical article, which appeared in 1930, also described the beloved “Padre Wallace” as a blessing to all, from “Buck Private to Major General.”

However, his story did not end there — as he was still alive.

Family, friends, and fellow priests eventually learned that he had been hospitalized in France. In the “fog of war,” Army officials confused the chaplain with another Lt. Edward Wallace from Chicago, who died of complications of exposure to mustard gas.

The surviving priest eventually returned home and continued serving parishes in the diocese. He also became a Navy chaplain in World War II.

New York Responded

Edward Wallace was born 1885 in Haydenville, Massachusetts, according to records kept by the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Museum at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

An article in the 80th Division Veterans Association magazine, The Service, stated he was educated in Boston and attended St. Bonaventure’s College in Allegheny, New York.

Father Wallace also studied for two years at the Grand Seminary in Montreal, Canada, and earned a theology degree at St. John’s Seminary in Brooklyn. He was ordained a priest on June 1, 1912, in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

However, in 1917, the United States entered World War I, and the war department turned to religious leaders to help recruit chaplains. New York City responded with the enlistment of Father Francis Duffy, who gained fame with the 69th New York Infantry Regiment.

Bishop Charles McDonnell of Brooklyn allowed 24 priests to serve, including Father Ward Meehan, who returned home with a gifted statue of St. Joan of Arc, which still stands in a Queens parish named for her, and that he pastored.

Father Bernard Quinn’s chaplaincy in the “Great War” interrupted his quest to build a parish for black Catholics in the diocese. Still, the future monsignor completed that task despite severe lung damage from mustard gas. He is now a candidate for sainthood.

‘Blue Ridge’ Division

Marcia McManus, director-curator of the chaplain’s museum, said Father Wallace enlisted in the Army on Sept. 14, 1917. A year later, he was in France with the 320th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division — the “Blue Ridge” division — made of soldiers from Pennsylvania and Virginia.

According to The Service article, Father Wallace served throughout the Artois, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offenses. And, like all chaplains, he was the “sky pilot” for men of all denominations, not just Catholics, according to the biography.

“Countless incidents could be related by the buddies of Padre Wallace of what occurred at the front,” the article stated. “And that was where he was always to be found, giving comfort to the dying, burying the dead, sending last messages to the fathers and mothers back home, and not asking whether this man was a Jew, Protestant, or Catholic.”

 Sunshine Banished

The biography said he was hospitalized near the town of Sommerance in northeast France “while burying the dead.”

Father Wallace’s mother, Mary, agonized over her son’s death notification. His sister, Mrs. Mary Phelan, described their mother’s grief in an article carried by The Pittsburgh Catholic.

“She suffered so since she heard of his death that she didn’t talk,” Phelan said.

Sunshine, she added, was “banished for days and days while we were so unhappy.” She went on to describe how 40 Masses were said for her brother in the Bay Ridge area and Fort Hamilton.

Phelan and her mother had just returned from one such tribute when they noticed a letter had arrived with a return address: “Somewhere in France.” 

It was from their dear “Father Ed” and dated Sept. 21 — a whole week after his reported death.

Best of Health

Father Wallace wrote that he was “in the best of health” in a village behind the lines. Army officials attributed the mistaken death report to “conditions in France.”

“I have just opened all the windows to let all of the sunshine in,” Phelan told the Pittsburgh Catholic. “We are so happy.”

In his retirement, Father Wallace gave an interview to The Tablet in 1968 and joked about being declared dead. He reflected on a tribute held for him — in his absence — at Fort Hamilton. He was told there was a color guard, a bugler playing “Taps,” and a 21-gun salute. 

“My undertaker said it was a beautiful thing,” Father Wallace told The Tablet. “Come to think of it, it probably was. What more could anyone ask for?” 

Father Wallace outlived everyone in his family and died on Aug. 26, 1970. He was 85.