Msgr. John Egan; Activist in Civil Rights Movement

Msgr. John J. Egan, 84, one of the first Roman Catholic priests to become active in the civil rights movement, died Saturday in Chicago of cardiovascular disease.

Egan was the first director of the Office of Urban Affairs for the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese, a post he held from 1958 to 1969. During that time he marched in the civil rights campaigns in Alabama; in Chicago he worked to prevent eviction of the poor.

He won a religious leaders award from the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH in 1987, and was the subject of a 1991 biography, “An Alley in Chicago,” by Margery Frisbie.

Born in New York, Egan grew up in Chicago and attended DePaul University. He was ordained in 1943 and served local parishes. During his long career, he held positions as assistant to presidents of DePaul and Notre Dame universities.