Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1944. DEAN O’DONNELL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 140, 24 March 1944, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1944. DEAN O’DONNELL.

At the coming' of the Great Reaper all thought of human differences fade away, but that feeling of oneness is intensified at the passing of one so respected and esteemed by those not of his own flock and so beloved by those to whom he ministered as Dean O’Donnell was. The end of a Christian ministry extending over sixty-four years, of which fifty-two were spent in Ashburton, finds him regarded as an exemplar of his faith and regretted as a man of wide sympathy and keen understanding. His work for his Church has its reward in the progress, spiritual and material, that has attended the congregation to which he ministered. The fine building in which services are held is a fitting, lasting monument to him, for it is no exaggeration to say that but foi him the edifice would, not have been erected in so stately a manner, nor so quickly cleared of debt. As spiritual directoi and general mentor he earned from his own people a gratitude that will remain a fragrant memoiv till they too .pass the portal. To the general community Dean O’Donnell appealed as a man who was actuated by a charity that never turned a deaf ear to the cry of distress, no matter how unworthy; indeed it was perhaps the unworthy who gained most from his material aid and his advice, admonition and reproof. His inner circle of friends, chosen not for religious affinity but for a broad, humanitarian outlook, were privileged to hold intercourse with a man whose wide learning was never ostentatiously displayed but continually enriched his conversation. Now, full of years with a record of devoted service to God and humanity, he has been called to his reward. Non-Catholics will join in paying tribute to his worth, in acknowledging that the community life of Ashburton district has been the better for his sojourn among us, and in extending to those who mourn the loss of a beloved leader the sincere sympathy that springs from keen realisation of the place the Dean held in their hearts.