Patrick Joseph Clan cy, the eldest of the four children of George and Delia T. (Ryan) Clancy, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 20, 1912. He attended Visitation Grammar School and St. Rita Grammar School in Chicago and received his secondary education there at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory School. Desiring to become a Dominican, he then went to Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island (1930-32). On August 15, 1932, he entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Rose Priory, Springfield, KY, and was given the religious name of Michael James. After completing his novitiate he made his first profession there on August 16, 1932, and was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, River Forest, Illinois, for philosophical studies (193 3-1936), obtaining a B. A. degree in philosophy. He was then sent to St. Joseph Priory, Somerset, Ohio, where he made his solemn profession on August 16, 1936. Because of the number of student brothers at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., his class remained in Somerset for their first three years of theology, thus earning them the nickname of the "Lost Battlion." On May 17, 1939, he was ordained a priest at Somerset and was then sent to Washington, D.C. for his fourth year of theology, where he earned the S.T.Lr. degree in 19 40. When the Province of St. Albert the Great was established, he chose to become one of its founding members.

Upon completion of his initial studies he was sent to the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., to study Canon Law and obtained the J.C.D. degree in 1943. His first assignment was to the Dominican House of Studies, River Forest, Illinois (1943-58) where he taught Canon Law, Moral Theology, Catechetics and Patrology. During this time he also taught at Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, Illinois (1944-53), and served on the summer faculties of Canon Law Institutes for Sisters at St. Xavier College, Chicago, Illinois (1947-52), and the College of St. Teresa, Winona, Minnesota (1951-52). At the same time Father Clancy served the Archdiocese of Chicago as an Assistant Chancellor and as a member of the Marriage Tribunal, first as Defender of the Bond (1944-53) and then as Pro-Synodal Judge (1952 -5 8). It was during this time that the degree of Master of Sacred Theology was conferred upon him by the Order (November 10, 1953). In addition he assisted with the journal Cross and Crown as an associate editor and served a term as prior of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, River Forest, Illinois (1955-58).

In 1958 he was appointed Director of the Apostolic School of the Province, located at Smyth Hall, Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, and was also assigned to teach at the college. In l 964 he was appointed socius and vicar provincial of the Province of St. Albert the Great. Father Clancy was oft en an advisor to congregations of Dominican Sisters and encouraged the development of secular institutes in the United States, especially that of Caritas Christi for which he was national chaplain (1961-65).

In 1967 he began a new phase of his ministry when he was appointed Assistant to the Master of the Order for the provinces of the United States and took up residence at the

Convent of Santa Sabina, Rome, Italy, a ministry which continued until 1974. Towards the end of his term he began to teach in the School of Canon Law at the University of St. Thomas in Rome and upon completion of his service to the Master of the Order continued to teach there until 1984. He also served the community as prior of the Convent of Saint Dominic and Saint Sixtus for a term (1976-79).

In 1984 he returned to the United States and was assigned to be associate director of the Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus, with residence at St. Pius V Priory, Chicago, Illinois, and continued this ministry until 1991. In addition he provided parish assistance at St. Rita of Cascia Parish, Chicago (1 984-87) and St. Germain Parish, Oak Lawn, Illinois (1988-90), was a faculty member for the Institute on Religious Life (1989-90) and served as Judge of the Appellate Court of the Marriage Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Because of advancing years and declining health he was assigned in 1991 to limited service in the Province with continued residence at St. Pius V Priory. Because of diabetes, heart problems, loss of sight and the early stages of kidney failure it was necessary for Father Clancy to move to Maryhaven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Glenview, Illinois, in September 2000. Here, however, he found a new ministry presiding at Eucharist for the residents several times a week. In September 2001, his decline in health became much more rapid and in the early hours of October 3rd he died in his sleep at the Center. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, River Forest, Illinois, on October 5, 2001, followed by burial at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.