O’Donovan, Rev Michael
REV. MICHAEL O’DONOVAN
September 9, 1959
Personal Info
- Date of Birth: 17 July 1904
- Place of Birth in Ireland: Mitchelstown
- County: Tipperary
- Education: Mt. St Joseph College, Roscrea; All Hallows College, Dublin and Kenrick Seminary, St Louis MO.
- Date of Ordination: 2 June 1928
- Place of Ordination: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Wichita, KS
- Ordained by: Most Rev. August Schwertner, Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita
Diocesan Appointments
- Assistant – St Patrick, Parsons – 6/23/1928 to 1931
- Pastor – Sacred Heart, Chetopa and Mother of God, Oswego – 6/23/1928 to 1931
- Pastor – St Rose of Lima, Council Grove; Holy Redeemer, Tampa and Corpus Christi in Skiddy – 1/16/1932 to 6/29/1937
- 1st resident Pastor – St Joseph, McPherson – 7/1/1937 to 10/7/1942
- Pastor – Holy Trinity, Little River – 7/1/1937 to 1/15/1940
- Pastor – St Paul, Lyons – 1/12/1940 to 8/27/1942
- Pastor – St John, Hoisington – 10/8/1942 to 2/20/1948
- Temporary Leave for Health Reasons – 2/21/1948 to 2/28/1949
- Pastor – St John, Hoisington – 3/1/1949 to 8/11/1950
- Chaplain – Villa Maria Retreat House, Wichita – 8/12/1950
- Retired – 1/1/1951
Seven years following his ordination, Father O’Donovan of St Rose’s Church in Council Grove returned to Cork, Ireland to spend the summer with his mother. He returned to Kansas and St Rose in September 1935.
Father O’Donovan was host of a luncheon for Bishop Augustus J. Schwertner and some of his fellow priests in 1938 when they came for the blessing of the new parish rectory at St Joseph Parish in McPherson. He was very proud of his new rectory but prouder still of his parishioners who continue to support him in his ecclesiastical mission. The ladies of the Altar Society supplied most of the furniture for Father’s new home.
The Divine office was conducted 11 September 1959 for Father O’Donovan who died a few days earlier in his home in Lyons, Kansas. He had been on sick leave for several years from the Diocese of Wichita. Due to a muscle ailment of the throat, Fr O’Donovan retired early from active parochial work in 1951.
