Early life Joseph Willging was born on September 6, 1884, in
Dubuque, Iowa, to Henry and Elizabeth (née Hanover) Willging. He attended St. Mary's School (1891–1898) and
Columbia College (1898–1905), both in Dubuque. Willging then went to
Baltimore, Maryland, to study at
St. Mary's Seminary, earning a
Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1908. He then studied at
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., for a year. Returning to Montana, Willging was appointed
principal of St. Aloysius Institute in
Helena, in 1909. He received his
episcopal consecration at
Saint Helena Cathedral in Helena on February 24, 1942, from Archbishop
Amleto Cicognani, with Archbishop
Henry Rohlman and Bishop
Joseph Michael Gilmore serving as
co-consecrators. He also encouraged the establishment of
parochial schools and Catholic
hospitals. Joseph Willging died of a
heart attack at St. Thomas Seminary in
Denver, Colorado, on March 3, 1959, at age 74. ==References==