Alexander Joseph McGavick (August 21, 1863 – August 25, 1948) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1921 until his death in 1948. Biography Early life and ministry McGavick was born in Fox Lake, Illinois, to James and Catherine (née Watt) McGavick. His parents were Irish immigrants who came to the United States from County Antrim in 1849. He received his early education in local public schools, and entered St. Viator College at Bourbonnais, Illinois, in 1879, earning his bachelor's (1884) and master's degrees (1887). McGavick was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on June 11, 1887 by Archbishop Patrick Feehan. His first assignment was as assistant pastor under Rev. Edward Joseph Dunne at All Saints Parish in Chicago. On account of ill health, he went to Colorado in 1889 in the hope that a change of climate would benefit him. He served as an assistant to Bishop Nicholas Matz at the cathedral in Denver for a year and a half before returning to Chicago and resuming his duties at All Saints. After Reverend Thaddeus J. Butler was appointed Bishop of Concordia in 1897, McGavick succeeded him as pastor of St. John's Parish in the Near South Side of Chicago. He earned a respected reputation during his first year at St. John's after paying off the parish's debts, renovating the church building, and establishing a Sunday school for Italian children. Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago On December 12, 1898, McGavick was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago and titular bishop of Marcopolis by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on May 1, 1899 from Archbishop Feehan, with Bishop Dunne (under whom he served at All Saints) and Bishop Maurice Burke serving as co-consecrators, at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. McGavick's mother died a few days after his consecration and the shock from this caused his health to suffer. In June 1899, just a month after becoming a bishop, he was given a leave of absence and left for Europe under the advice of his physicians. After a few months abroad, he returned to the United States and stayed at Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, for a time before finally returning to Chicago in December 1899. McGavick subsequently submitted his resignation as bishop to the Vatican in 1900, but it was not accepted. That