Donovan, Paul A. (Father)

Jesuit Father Paul A. Donovan passed away on September 9, 2016, at the age of 89.

He was born in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 1927. He graduated from Gonzaga High School and entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, in 1943. He received his bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts in Teaching, as well as his Licentiate in Philosophy and Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Woodstock College in Woodstock, Maryland. He was ordained a priest on June 17, 1956.

As a Jesuit scholastic, Fr. Donovan taught Latin, Greek and French at Scranton Prep. Following ordination, he became a professor of theology at Georgetown University for seven years and a student counselor for three. In 1972, Fr. Donovan headed to the West Coast to begin what would become a 27-year tenure at the University of San Diego as a student counselor and campus minister. After many fulfilling years at the university, he continued to serve as a pastoral minister in and around San Diego for another nine years.

Fr. Donovan moved to Manresa Hall in Philadelphia in 2008 to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.