Stephen Kane began his early education at the local National School in Drumlish, Ireland, and later at the Diocesan College, Saint Mels. He studied for the priesthood at Saint John’s Seminary, Waterford, and in 1929 accepted an invitation to join the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, to complete his studies under the Vincentian Fathers at their mid-western University in St. Louis. He was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1933. When World War II began he joined the Iowa National GuardÕs 35th Division, one of the first units deployed overseas, before being assigned to the 158th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, participating with that unit in the 1942 invasion of North Africa. He was captured in February 1943 and held as a Prisoner of War until 1945. After the war he continued in service as an Army Chaplain, serving in Korea from 1950 – 1951, and retiring as an Army colonel. After his military service he continued in parish duty at Creston, Iowa, before returning to Ireland in 1971.