Father Francis X. Keelan was a Maryknoll missionary. He was ordained on 17 June 1934 and assigned to Wuchow (Wuzhou), Guangxi in the same year. Father Keelan was later stationed in Kweilin (Guilin).
He was on business in Hong Kong before the Japanese invasion. After the fall of Hong Kong, Father Keelan and other Maryknoll priests were interned at Stanley Camp until September 1942 (see here). In camp, he was co-chairman of the athletic committee.
After confinement and having gained permission from the Japanese authorities to enter China, Father Keelan and a group of fellow priests left Hong Kong in January 1943 and safely arrived in Kweilin on 2 February 1943. Father Keelan returned to the United States in February 1945 on an Army-Navy transport.
Father Keelan was brilliant in Mandarin and became a Professor of the language whilst at Stanley and later at Kweilin. After the end of the Pacific war, he returned to Kweilin. In 1952, he was assigned to Formosa (Taiwan) and left the island in 1975.
Source
1. Maryknoll Archives: https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-bro/father-francis-x-keelan-mm/
2. Catholic News Service - Newsfeeds dated 7 September 1942. See here
3. Catholic News Service - Newsfeeds dated 21 September 1942. See here
4. The Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury dated 5 February 1943. See here
5. Brooklyn Daily Eagle dated 5 February 1943. See here
6. The Evening Star, Washington D.C. dated 3 February 1945. See here