Deceased: 1985-11-10
Diocese: ST CLOUD
Retired Father Donald Kahl dies in Little Falls Hospital
Buckman – Father Donald Kahl, a priest of the Diocese of St. Cloud who was at death’s door nine years ago and since lived without the use of his kidneys, died November 10 in St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Little Falls.
The funeral Mass for Father Kahl was celebrated at St. Michael Church, Buckman. Burial was in the parish cemetery.
Father Kahl, 59, spent six hours a day, three days a week on the dialysis machine at the hospital since November 1977. At that time he was stricken with a combination of ailments that put him in a coma for four days. He recovered, but without the use of his kidneys.
Father Kahl was a resident in Alverna Apartments, adjacent to St. Gabriel Hospital. He lived there since his retirement from the active priesthood in July 1981.
Born in Beach, North Dakota (January 31, 1927), Donald Kahl studied for the priesthood at Assumption Abbey, Richardton, North Dakota; and St. John Seminary, Collegeville.
Remembered by his classmates as a “brilliant student,” Father Kahl was ordained to the priesthood in St. Mary Cathedral, St. Cloud, on April 26, 1952.
During the 34 years of priesthood Father Kahl served the diocese in a variety of roles. Immediately following ordination he served pastoral assignments at Holy Angels Church and St. Mary Cathedral, St. Cloud, 1952-56. From 1954 to 1968 he was on the Diocesan Tribunal, holding the position of Officialis in the later years.
Father Kahl served as assistant director of vocations for the St. Cloud Diocese; a full-time teacher and spiritual director at Cathedral High School, St. Cloud (1956-1957); faculty member at St. John Seminary, Collegeville, serving also at the seminary’s dean and procurator (1960-1968).
Father Kahl was named pastor of St. Francis Church, St. Francis, in February 1969, a position he held until his retirement from active ministry in July 1981.
