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Father C. Donald Howard, S.A., who was a longtime pastor in Virginia and did retreat ministry at Graymoor in Garrison, died Jan. 6 at the Atonement Friary in Washington, D.C., where he resided. He was 72.
Father Howard was pastor of a parish in Sterling, Va., for 24 years until his retirement in 2013. He also served on the finance committee of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, 2009-2012.
In the archdiocese, he was associate director and coordinator of retreats for the Christian Unity Center at Graymoor, 1981-1982.
He also served in Massachusetts and elsewhere in Virginia, and held positions in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Richmond, Va.
Born in Phoenixville, Pa., he entered the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in 1959 and made final vows in 1967. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1972.
He graduated from St. Pius X Seminary at Graymoor. He held master’s degrees from St. Paul’s College in Washington and the University of Notre Dame.
His sisters, Marilyn Miller and Ellen Piskal, survive him.
A Funeral Mass was offered Jan. 17 at Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling. Burial was planned in the friars’ cemetery at Graymoor.
