Maryknoll Father Robert W. Donnelly of Brooklyn, N.Y., who spent nearly half his life as a parish priest on the Big Island and Oahu, died Sept. 8 at Phelps Memorial Hospital in New York. He was 81 years old and a Maryknoll missioner for 54 years.
Father Donnelly was ordained on June 13, 1959. His first assignment was Japan, where he worked in parishes in the Kyoto Diocese from 1959 to 1965.
He returned to the United States in 1965 with an assignment to Hawaii where he served the next 26 years at St. Joseph Parish, Hilo; St. John the Baptist Parish, Honolulu; Good Shepherd Parish, Honomu; Sacred Heart Parish, Honolulu; St. Theresa Parish, Mountain View; and Sacred Heart Parish, Pahoa.
From 1991 until 1994, Father Donnelly performed mission education and development work in Chestnut Hill, Mass., Denver and St. Louis.
He then returned to Hawaii to serve as pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Honolulu and at St. Benedict Church in Honaunau. He maintained and oversaw the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Benedict, a national treasure famous for the scriptural paintings covering the interior walls, painted by a Belgian Sacred Hearts missionary priest.
He retired in 2004, continuing his mission work in Honolulu at Sacred Heart Parish. In 2007, he moved to the Maryknoll Mission Center, Ossining, N.Y., where he assisted local parishes.
On the occasion of his 50th Jubilee of ordination in 2009, Father Donnelly said: “The high point of my mission career is preaching and teaching the Gospel and making it relevant to others. When people see the missioner’s dedication and love for them, they may be drawn to follow him.”
Father Donnelly was born in Brooklyn on July 11, 1932, where he attended Our Lady of Angels Elementary School and St. Michael High School. He entered Maryknoll Seminary in Scranton, Penn., in 1950. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and a master’s degree in religious education from Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining.
Father Donnelly is survived by his nephews Kevin Donnelly of Honolulu and Dennis and Debbie Donnelly of Bay Shore, N.Y., and a cousin William Murray of White Plains, N.Y.
His funeral was Sept. 13 at Maryknoll Center in Ossining. He is buried in the Maryknoll Society Cemetery, Ossining.
Memorial donations in Father Donnelly’s name may be made to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545.
