Jerome Healy was ordained a Catholic priest of the Order of Saint Benedict. During World War II he was serving at the small Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, Colorado, when he entered military service and was commissioned a U.S. Army chaplain. He was one of two priest from The Abbey to be awarded a Silver Star during the war. He returned to Holy Cross Abbey after the war as a long time member of the faculty there, and as coach of the basketball team which under his leadership became the winningest team in The AbbeyÕs history, with a record of 272 – 159. In 1949 he was named President and Executive Director of the Southern Colorado Parochial School League, and in 1959 was named assistant chaplain of Saint Thomas Aquinas Chapel and the University of Colorado Newman Club. He later served at Saint MichaelÕs Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and also served as chaplain of Penrose Hospital in that city.