Father Cecil John Donahue, O.S.B., died on Nov. 19, 2023.

He was a beloved monk, priest, educator, administrator, and music composer at Saint Anselm Abbey for 75 years. He was the longest serving monk in vows in Saint Anselm history.

In 1946 he was accepted into the novitiate of Saint Vincent Abbey to become a Benedictine monk. He transferred to Saint Anselm Abbey, professing vows in 1948. He graduated from Saint Anselm College in 1950 and was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1954, by the Most Rev. Hugh Lamb, bishop of Greensburg, PA.

Among his many roles at the college, Fr. Cecil became the director of Physical Plant in 1972. As many monks have said in the wake of his passing, look around at any tree on campus and remember that it is likely there because of Fr. Cecil. 

He celebrated his 75th anniversary of professing solemn vows on July 2, 2023.

A tribute for Fr. Cecil: Tom Canuel, Crier Staff

The first time I formally met Fr. Cecil was during my freshman year. Myself along with a few friends from Campus Ministry were attending a ‘meet the monks’ program on Alumni Quad around September, 2020. As we were talking with a couple of monks that had just showed up and before I could even blink, there came a loud noise like a motorcycle. I turned around to see what it was and there was Fr. Cecil, riding his wheelchair motorcycle the wrong way on Saint Anselm Drive towards us. I was blown away, and from that moment, Fr. Cecil made quite the impression on me. 

When I was asked to write a tribute to Fr. Cecil for the Crier, I felt as if there were a million and one directions I could have gone. Fr. Cecil joined Saint Anselm Abbey without even setting foot on-campus or having known many monks at the time. He was a monk of over 75 years and passed away on the week of his 95th birthday. However, that’s not the whole story. Let me tell you a bit more about Fr. Cecil.

Fr. Cecil served as a custodian and steward for the college for a long time, working as the Director of Physical Plant from 1972 to 1984 when he was assigned to Woodside Priory in California to serve as treasurer of the monastery and school. If you see a tree on campus, it was likely Fr. Cecil who planted it. He also built the monastery’s outdoor Stations of the Cross with leftover hewn rock from the building of the Abbey Church. He assisted in the creation of the mosaics surrounding the tabernacle in the Abbey and created a processional cross which has been used until recently. He was also a songwriter and, after Vatican II, wrote many of the hymns the monks use for special feast days. If that wasn’t enough, he also served as the secretary to the head of the world-wide Benedictine order, Abbot Primate Viktor Dammertz, for two years in Rome from 1989-1990. That was Fr. Cecil, always on the go and working hard to make contributions to his community, the college, and the Catholic Church. Even in the nursing home, a friend of mine would tell me how Fr. Cecil wanted to create sundials and take on big projects that often seemed unrealistic to others.

Fr. Cecil was also a good troublemaker if there ever could be one. When Abbot Matthew was still abbot, Fr. Cecil was given a woodchipper for his birthday. Because he was on in years, he had a few students volunteer to chop wood for him. Naturally, as soon as the abbot found out, he put a stop to that, but not without a few laughs. 

There are many accounts of Fr. Cecil sneaking out on his wheelchair motorcycle (which he motorized himself) after Vespers on some nights. It was a gift from a friend of his, an electric 3-wheeler that had two settings: rabbit and hare. In one of these accounts, he snuck out and met with his former secretary who would invite him to play card games at her house. Let’s not forget how during his last years, Fr. Cecil refused to go in a wheelchair and scooted himself on a walker around the monastery. 

Although I did not get to know Fr. Cecil as well as I wish I could have, he has made a lasting impact to our college campus and will not be forgotten anytime soon. I have no doubt in my mind that Fr. Cecil lives on in heaven, planting many more trees and reunited with his best friend and classmate in the novitiate, Bishop Joseph Gerry, who passed away last July. May he rest in peace.