Father Convey, public defender, dies at 91

A funeral Mass for Jesuit Father Edwin Hamilton Convey was offered Oct. 23 at Alumni Memorial Chapel on the Baltimore campus of Loyola University Maryland.

Father Convey, a professor at Loyola and public defender for Baltimore City, died after a long illness at Manresa Hall, Merion Station, Pa., Oct. 18. A Jesuit for 67 years and a priest for 57 years, he was 91.

A New Jersey native, Father Convey began his priestly ministry at Loyola College in Maryland (now University) where he was professor of economics from 1955 to 1957. After earning an MBA degree in accounting at New York University in 1959, he returned to Loyola where he was professor of business administration until 1974. During this period, Father Convey also studied law at the University of Maryland and received a JD degree in 1971.

From 1975 to 2010, Father Convey practiced law in the Baltimore Public Defender’s Office where he served with distinction as Defender of the Poor in Criminal (Juvenile) Cases.

In 1993, the St. Thomas More Society of Maryland, an organization of lawyers, judges and clergy, awarded Father Convey the Man for All Seasons Award, an annual award given to those who embody the example and principles demonstrated by St. Thomas More.

In a 1993 interview with The Catholic Review, Father Convey said his work as a public defender could be frustrating at times.

“But I feel I am doing good,” he said. “People have the misconception that kids are in trouble all the time, but about 85 percent of the kids I see never return.”