Rest in Peace, Fr. Dennis Donovan, SDB

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

After a year-long fight against pancreatic cancer, Father Dennis Dale Donovan died at 10:36 a.m. on Thursday, July 25, two days after entering the Joe Raso Hospice Residence in New City, NY, where he passed away.

Father Dennis, 70, was a member of the Marian Shrine community in Haverstraw-Stony Point, NY, of which he had been director from July 2021 until June 30, 2024. He was a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for almost 51 years and a priest for 41 years.

Dennis Donovan was born to Thomas and Helen Rudolph Donovan on February 26, 1954, in Nyack, NY.  His early memories included the opening years of the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River.  He was baptized at St. Ann’s Church in Nyack less than a month after birth.  After the family moved to West Nyack, he was confirmed at St. Anthony’s Church in neighboring Nanuet, their parish.  The family also included Dennis’s younger sister Lynn.

Dennis entered Salesian Junior Seminary, the aspirantate at Goshen, NY, in September 1968, and upon graduation four years later was admitted to the Salesian novitiate at Ipswich, Mass. His master of novices was Father Theodore Ciampi, and some of his classmates were Thomas Connery, Allen Dec, James Horan, John Serio, and Eugene Walter.

Robert Ferrara, one of his novitiate class who remained with the Salesians for a few years, paid tribute to Father Dennis shortly before he went into hospice:

In Ipswich we put on the musical play 1776. I played John Adams. It turned out to be one of the best decisions made for me by Br. German Martinez, as I was strongly reluctant to do so.

The play never would’ve happened without the talent of Dennis Donovan, truly a phenomenal keyboard player (piano/organ). He was solely responsible for directing and performing all the music. He humbly did so with perfection.

Through the years, I’m sure he allowed for tremendous prayer whenever he played at a service, encouraging many to join in song. They say that “those who sing, pray twice.”  Well, I believe he taught many that prayer is meaningful and fulfilling through music.  

Thank you, Fr. Dennis for teaching us how to pray! You have nothing to fear! We pray for you!

Brother Dennis and the others professed on September 1, 1973, at Don Bosco College in Newton, NJ, then undertook college studies there.  Brother Dennis earned a B.A. in philosophy at Don Bosco in 1977. He was certified in New Jersey to teach English and later was certified also in New York.

Brother Dennis did practical training at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ, from 1977 to 1979. He went to Columbus, OH, in 1979 to undertake theological studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum and was ordained by Bishop James Griffin at Christ the King Church in Columbus on May 21, 1983, with his classmates Fathers William Bucciferro, Thomas Connery, James Marra, Theodore Montemayor, John Nazzaro, Joseph Vien Hoang, Eugene Walter, and others.

Father Dennis’s first assignment as a priest brought him back to his alma mater, Salesian Junior Seminary, in Goshen, teaching and assisting the school’s treasurer, Father Joseph Stella, from 1983 to 1985. He returned to Columbus in 1985 as treasurer at the Salesian Center and the Salesian Boys & Girls Club until 1994. In those years he also served as chaplain to the Ohio State Senate—the capitol was four blocks from the Salesian Center—and to the central Ohio chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Playing the organ and learning about the instrument was one of Father Dennis’s passions. He was also fascinated by clocks and watches.

During those years he developed a secondary priestly ministry as a cruise chaplain, starting in 1990. In 2005 he formally enrolled in the Cruise Ship Priest Program of the Apostolate of the Sea-U.S.A., which coordinates chaplaincies for seafaring men and women, both crews and tourists, and remained a member until his death. He served on the AOS-USA Administrative Board as the cruise ship priest representative from 2015 to 2018.  Doreen Badeaux, secretary general of AOS-USA, writes, “Fr Dennis made a huge impact upon the ministry to the People of the Sea!”  She continues: “What can I say about Fr Dennis Donovan?  He is, was, and forever will be a great man of God, a kind soul, and a man who was a friend and supporter to everyone he met.  He had an impish good humour and a gentle yet fun-loving manner.  He will be forever missed.”

While he was on the AOS administrative board, Ms. Badeaux says, “he overhauled the Cruise Ship Priest Manual, assisted with wise counsel, … was always available to help give advice and helpful tips to priests who were new to the program,” and he helped forward the canonization cause of Benedictine Brother Marinus LaRue, a former Merchant Marine captain, whom then-Brother Dennis had met at Saint Paul’s Abbey in Newton.

Father Dennis thoroughly enjoyed cruise chaplaincy, combining it with his own vacation time, sometimes accompanied by his parents or other family.  At the same time, he was always ready to meet the pastoral needs of hundreds of vacationers at sea as well as of the ship’s crew:  sacraments, counseling, and occasionally a funeral.  He told a reporter for the Tampa Tribune in 2009: “You actually get very busy as a priest.  Passengers take advantage of a spiritual advisor who doesn’t live in their hometown.  Some have not been to church in 20, 30 years.  They figure, ‘This priest doesn’t know me.  He won’t be judgmental.” [1]  Cruise chaplaincy later drew the attention of the National Catholic Register, which cited Father Dennis:  “On every cruise, he encounters passengers who are not familiar with the work of the Salesians—and it’s not unusual for those passengers to contact him at his office, long after the cruise is over, to request more information or send a donation to support the [Salesians’] work.” [2]  In fact, he would usually return from a cruise with generous donations from the passengers.  He also tried to enlist some of his fellow Salesians to become chaplains.

One very notable cruise experience occurred at Eastertime last year, when Father Dennis and another cruise chaplain, retired Bishop Robert Lynch, prepared the Stolz family’s four adopted children, all of whom have Down syndrome, for their First Communion in mid-Atlantic aboard Holland America’s MS Rotterdam. [3]

From Columbus, Father Dennis was called to the provincial house in New Rochelle, NY, as director of development for the province. He served there from 1994 to 1998. He acted at the same time as province delegate for the Salesian Cooperators.  In 1998 he was sent back to Columbus as executive director of the Boys & Girls Club for six years.

In 2004 Father Dennis moved to Mary Help of Christians School in Tampa as treasurer for the school and the Salesian community. Two years later he was appointed director there and served two terms (2006-2012), which included the closing of the school, the move of Good Shepherd Parish to the Mary Help campus, the parish’s renaming to Mary Help of Christians, and the Salesian work renamed Mary Help of Christians Center. The center’s retreat program was developed further. The center is also the home of the Saint Philip the Apostle Residence for senior Salesians, a work that led to Father Dennis’s developing a province plan for the care of elder confreres.