By Barbara D. King, Special To The Bulletin

SAVANNAH-Msgr. Felix Gerard Donnelly died on Jan. 12 at Azalealand Nursing Home, Savannah, at the age of 85. A native of Erie, Pa., Msgr. Donnelly served as a priest for the Diocese of Savannah for 56 years. A tall, gentle man of elegant bearing and a dry wit, he endeared himself to many with his humility and his following the Gospel mandate to live a simple life. Born on Nov. 15, 1916, one of nine children of Felix J. and Theresa White Donnelly, he received his secondary school education at Belmont Abbey, N.C., and at St. Peter's High School in McKeesport, Pa. In his 20s, he said he felt he had a vocation to the priesthood, but he did not have the resources to enroll in a seminary. While working for a railroad in Atlanta, he had a chance encounter with Bishop Gerald P. O'Hara, then the newly appointed bishop of the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta, who was instrumental in his enrollment in St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville, Md. He also studied at St. Bernard Seminary in Rochester, N.Y. and at St. Mary's Seminary at Roland Park in Baltimore. Bishop O'Hara ordained Donnelly to the priesthood at the Co-Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta which they shared the title with the Cathedral in Savannah on March 17, 1945. After ordination, Father Donnelly served briefly as an assistant pastor at Christ the King Cathedral and then at St. Anthony Parish in Atlanta from September 1945 to November 1949. He next served at St. Mary on the Hill Church in Augusta. He became pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Warner Robins, serving there from 1952-57. He served as pastor of Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Savannah from 1958-63 and as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Augusta from 1963-66. That year he was named a prelate of honor with the title of monsignor. He remembered as a highlight of his early ministry his service at St. Joseph's Boys Home in Washington, Ga., in the 1950s. "The priest before me had a farm there," Msgr. Donnelly recalled. "I knew nothing about farming, but the county agent came out and showed me. I eventually taught the boys as well as I could." He served as pastor of St. Teresa Parish in Albany from 1966-69, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Savannah from 1969-72, pastor of St. Teresa Church in Augusta from 1972-76, and as rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah from 1976-81. His later temporary assignments were as associate pastor at Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Savannah, administrator of St. Patrick Parish in Perry and associate pastor of St. Anne Parish in Columbus. Among his many special assignments, he served as director of Camp Villa Marie in 1945-46, as Savannah Deanery Moderator of Catholic Youth from 1957-63 and as a professor at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Savannah in 1959-60. On March 17, 1995, Msgr. Donnelly observed the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood by concelebrating the St. Patrick's Day Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist with former Savannah Bishop Raymond W. Lessard. In recent years as his health failed he had lived in retirement at the Cathedral rectory and later at Azalealand Nursing Home. Msgr. Donnelly is survived by his sister, Mary Jane Nelson of McKeesport, and by his brothers, Bernard Donnelly of Largo, Fla., and Thomas Donnelly of Marietta, and a number of nieces and nephews. A vigil service was celebrated on Jan. 14 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah. The funeral Mass was celebrated on Jan. 15 at the Cathedral, with Bishop J. Kevin Boland as main celebrant and priests of the Diocese of Savannah as concelebrants. Msgr. Donnelly was buried in the priests' lot at the Catholic cemetery. Remembrances may be sent to the Cathedral Heritage Endowment Fund, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, 222 East Harris, Savannah 31401 or the Social Apostolate, 502 Liberty St., Savannah 31401.