Catholic News Service

Kalamazoo — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit presided at the May 4 funeral Mass in Kalamazoo’s St. Augustine Cathedral for Bishop Paul V. Donovan, retired bishop of Kalamazoo.

The 86-year-old bishop was found dead April 28 outside of his vehicle following a minor accident in Wayland Township. Police said “there does not appear to be any foul play” involved in the bishop’s death.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wis., was the homilist at Bishop Donovan’s funeral, which was also attended by Cardinal Adam J. Maida, retired archbishop of Detroit. Burial followed at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kalamazoo.

Bishop Donovan was the founding bishop when the Diocese of Kalamazoo was established in 1971. He retired for health reasons in 1994.

Born Sept. 1, 1924, in Bernard, Iowa, Paul V. Donovan moved with his family to Lansing, where he attended St. Mary Cathedral High School.

Following studies for the priesthood at St. Joseph Seminary in Grand Rapids, St. Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati and Mount St. Mary Seminary in Norwood, Ohio, he was ordained a priest of the Lansing Diocese on May 20, 1950.

Then-Fr. Donovan served as secretary to Lansing Bishop Joseph H. Albers and administrator of St. Peter’s Church in Eaton Rapids before he was sent to Rome in 1955 for studies at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he earned a licentiate in canon law.

He resumed his duties as the bishop’s secretary upon his return to Lansing and was named pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Michigan Center in 1959. He held that post nearly a decade and was transferred to St. Agnes Parish in Flint in 1968.

When Pope Paul VI established the new Diocese of Kalamazoo on July 21, 1971, he named then-Fr. Donovan to head it. The new bishop took as his episcopal motto, “To serve rather than be served.”

At the national level, Bishop Donovan served on the canonical affairs, education and Hispanic affairs committees of what is now called the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also was episcopal moderator of the Cursillo Movement in his region and served on the board of trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.