The funeral Mass for Deacon Donald L. Driscoll was celebrated Sept. 19 at Our Lady of the Holy Cross Church in the Baden neighborhood of North St. Louis. Deacon Driscoll died Sept. 14. He was 90 years old and had been a deacon for 31 years.
Born on Nov. 29, 1927, in St. Louis, he was married to the late Ellen Driscoll (nee Boharian) on Jan. 15, 1950. They were blessed with nine children — Lawrence, Norice, Sara (Shaver), Bernie, Charlotte (Gibson), Jesse, Rachel (Lubiewski), Donna (Kasting) and the late Charles ‘Chuck’ — along with 15 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Deacon Driscoll served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He retired from the U. S. Postal Service.
Deacon Driscoll was ordained to the Sacred Order of the Diaconate, July 31, 1987, by Archbishop John L. May. He was assigned to Holy Cross Parish until it merged with Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1993, and since then served at Our Lady of the Holy Cross, retiring on March 1, 2017.
Prior to his retirement, he performed the sacramental functions of a deacon, specifically assisting at Mass, conducting wake services and attending funerals, leading Liturgy of the Word and Communion Services when needed, performing baptisms, conducting benedictions and leading Stations of the Cross. Deacon Driscoll also worked extensively with parishioners who were homebound, in hospitals or nursing facilities and also worked with sacramental and ministry preparation programs and with the RCIA program.
