Rev. Monsignor Thomas J. McDonnellRev. Monsignor Thomas J. McDonnell, a Mattapan native who served for 21 years as a pastor in South Boston and ministered to the city's most vulnerable residents, died on Sunday afternoon after a lengthy illness. He was 73 years old. Fr. Tom, as he was known to many, was also a longtime columnist for the Reporter Newspapers and the Archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot.
Fr. McDonnell will lie in state at St. Monica's church in South Boston on Friday, June 19 from 4-8 p.m. A wake will also be held at Alfred D. Thomas Funeral Home, 326 Granite Ave. in East Milton on Thursday, June 18 from 4-8 p.m. His funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, June 20 at 11 a.m. at St. Monica's at 331 Old Colony Ave, South Boston. (The funeral was originally set for St. Mary's in Dedham, but the location was shifted to South Boston on Tuesday.)
The Reporter's publisher Ed Forry writes on Fr. Tom's life and legacy here.