Joseph Sheehan attended Cathedral Prep and Adelphis Academy, earning 16 varsity letters in baseball, basketball, swimming, and tennis. He graduated from Saint Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1940, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and studied for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, New Jersey. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1944, and became a monsignor in 1977. His first assignment was as assistant pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Long Branch, New Jersey, and then he went to Saint Francis Church in Metuchen, followed by service at Saint James Church in Red Ban, and Saint Gabriel’s Church in Bradevelt, all in New Jersey. In 1951 he enlisted for military service as was commissioned as a U.S. Army chaplain, serving in both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars, before retiring in 1971 as a lieutenant colonel. After retiring from the military he served as pastor emeritus of Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church, Phillipsburg, and Episcopal vicar for Warren and Henderson Counties.