Deacon Donald J. Pendergast is remembered for his kindness and outgoing personality. He died Aug. 14 at the age of 93.
Ordained in 1978 as a member of the second deacon class of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he was assigned to Our Lady of Grace in Edina. It was to be his sole assignment; he served there for 21 years before retiring in 1999.
He was born in 1921 in England and initially worked as a coal miner.
He emigrated to Paynesville in 1954. He was baptized in 1955, the same year he married his wife Joanna. They had two children, Kevin and Kim. His wife and children survive him.
Professionally a cosmetologist, he later owned several beauty salons.
Deacon Peter D’Heilly, who was also a member of the archdiocese’s second deacon class, remembered Deacon Pendergast as a man who was “witty, outgoing, kind and a good minister who had a lot of people skills,” he said.
“He was a good preacher. He had an attractive British accent that got people’s attention,” Deacon D’Heilly said.
Deacon Pendergast was a long-time member of Christ the King in Minneapolis, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to Mass at the church, 5029 Zenith Ave. S., Minneapolis.
