Steed

Father Donald R. Steed, M.M.

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Father Donald R. Steed, M.M., who served as a missioner to South America and Africa and also as a U.S. Navy chaplain, died on Dec. 3 at St. Teresa’s Residence in Ossining. He was 80. Ordained to the priesthood for the Maryknoll Fathers in 1954, he was assigned to the Maryknoll missions in

Bolivia. He served in parishes in Cala Cala and Santa Cruz before becoming pastor of a parish in the Pando Vicariate. He was appointed Maryknoll procurator

in La Paz in 1966. The following year he was appointed a pastor in Riberalta where he founded Radio San Miguel. In 1972 he was appointed director of a social communications center in La Paz and promoted literacy programs on the radio. In 1979, he named administrator of the Archdiocese of Cochabamba’s finance committee. He returned to the United States in 1984 and received permission to enlist in the U.S. Naval Chaplaincy Corps. He served with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific and then did sea duty in the Persian Gulf and Mogadishu. After 20 years of service, during which he received numerous honors, he retired from the Navy in 2004. Born in Medford, Mass., he entered Maryknoll in 1944 and studied for the priesthood at Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining. He is survived by his sister, Barbara Gray. A Funeral Mass was offered Dec. 6 at Queen of Apostles Chapel at Maryknoll Society Center in Ossining. Burial was in Maryknoll Cemetery.

Father Donald R. Steed, M.M.