Background
Dwyer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the only child of John Charles and Mabel (née Maynard) Dwyer. His father was of Irish descent, and his mother of French Canadian.
Dwyer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the only child of John Charles and Mabel (née Maynard) Dwyer. His father was of Irish descent, and his mother of French Canadian.
He attended Wasatch Public School and Judge Memorial High School. He was then sent to continue his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, District of Columbia, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1941 with a thesis entitled: "The Gentile Comes to Utah: A Study in Religious and Social Conflict 1862-1890".
He was Archbishop of Portland from 1966 to 1974, having previously served as Bishop of Reno (1952-1966). In 1925, he enrolled at the Marist Seminary in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Shortly afterwards, he transferred to Saint Patrick"s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
On June 11, 1932, Dwyer was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Edward Kelly.
He was the first native Utahn to be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. His first assignment was as a curate at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, where he remained for two years.
From 1934 to 1938, he served as chaplain at the College of Saint Mary-of-the-Wasatch and editor of The Intermountain Catholic. Following his return to Utah, Dwyer served as diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools (1941-1952) and resumed his position as editor of the diocesan newspaper.
He became diocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1942.
He was named rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in 1948, and raised to the rank of Monsignor in 1950. He was appointed the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno in Reno, Nevada on May 19, 1952 by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated August 5, 1952. Pope Paul VI appointed him the fifth Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, in Portland, Oregon, on December 9, 1966.
Retiring on January 22, 1974 due to ill health, he died in Piedmont, California on March 24, 1976.
Dwyer began his work as a historian of the American west at the Catholic University of America, in Washington, District of Columbia in 1938, receiving his Doctor of Philosophy in history in 1941. Dwyer periodically acted as editor to the Utah Historical Quarterly, and produced two noted volumes.
Although his work as a historian was secondary to his religious calling, he served as a member of the governing and editorial boards of the Utah State Historical Society from 1943 to 1952. After he became Archbishop, Dwyer became a member of the board of advisors of the Western History Center at the University of Utah.