Timothy Dempsey (October 21, 1867 – April 6, 1936) was an ordained Roman Catholic priest who was born in Cadamstown, Ireland, and served the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, from 1891 through 1936.
Dempsey was instrumental in helping the working class and the poor of St. Louis, founding a hotel for working men in 1906, a hotel for working women in 1911, and a segregated hotel for working African American workers in 1922. Dempsey created "Father Tim's Free Lunch Room" during the Great Depression, serving millions of free meals to the public in a time of great need. He served as mediator for many labor disputes, helping to bring resolution to several strikes during the 1920s. In 1909, Dempsey purchased a portion of ground in an existing cemetery and devoted its use to those who had no families, naming it "Exiles' Rest," which is where he was interred in 1936. The legacy of Father Tim Dempsey has continued long after his death and the organizations that he started continue to help the homeless in St. Louis, operating as "Father Tim's Charities" under the administration of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Early life and career
Timothy Dempsey was born in Cadamstown, Ireland, in 1867, the first of eleven children born to Thomas Dempsey and Bridget Ryan. Baptized Catholic at birth, he began studying for the priesthood by the age of thirteen. He studied at the National School at Mullingar and then at Navan College. He went on to the foreign missionary college at St. Patrick's, Carlow College, Ireland, for seminary training and was ordained a priest on June 14, 1891. Soon afterwards, he was sent to the United States to serve, immigrating in 1891. Dempsey served at several Catholic churches before being assigned to his desired post at St. Patrick's Church, located at 1201 Sixth Street in the city's original Irish neighborhood, celebrating his first Mass there on July 4, 1898.
Exiles' Rest
In the winter of 1906, Dempsey established a boarding house for destitute men, located at Eighth and Franklin streets in St. Louis, which he called "Exiles' Rest." On May 5, 1907, Archbishop John. J. Glennon christened the hotel and gave it the name "Father Dempsey's Hotel for Working Men." Realizing that he needed a larger space to accommodate more people, six months later Dempsey leased the buildings at 111-1121 North Seventh Street, allowing him to expand capacity in what used to be the St. Patrick's School (also noted as "Shields School"). The hotel could house 400 and posted a sign that said, "Never Closed." During its first year, the hotel had provided free lodging to over 8,000 men. The hotel also established an employment bureau, and over 500 jobs were found for the hotel's men during that inaugural year. From its founding through Father Tim's death in 1936, the hotel had recorded providing 600,000 free lodgings and over 300,000 free meals. Though the hotel charged pennies for a night's stay, Dempsey didn't necessarily require payment in advance, allowing destitute guests to pay him later when they found work and could afford to do so.
Soon after the founding of the hotel, Dempsey obtained a large section of ground in Calvary Cemetery in 1909 and named it "Exiles Rest," which was the moniker he sometimes used for the hotel. Dempsey reportedly was granted this land in the cemetery by its board of directors. He also successfully appealed to the funeral home of Bensiek-Niehaus to provide caskets and hearses, free of charge. By obtaining this plot of cemetery land, Dempsey intended to provide plots for destitute men so that they could be buried in consecrated ground.
Day Nursery and Women's Hotel
Following the success of the hotel for men, Dempsey turned his attention to the needs of women. In 1910, he started a daycare for children in a building at 1019 North Sixth Street, named the St. Patrick's Day Nursery and Emergency Home, which could accommodate 100 children of poor working women. He reasoned that by providing childcare options to mothers without a husband, whether due to desertion, untimely death, incarceration or illness, it might prevent some children from being given up as wards of the state. At first, care was provided by lay women, and then briefly by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. In 1913, it was moved into a better quarter behind the parish school at 1209 North Sixth Street. Then, by 1916, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul took over and remained in charge for many years.