60 Years a Priest in 2024
Praying for the Church and the Society – Florissant, Missouri
Father Don Cunningham, SJ, a priest of the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province, celebrates the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination in 2024. After years of service in Jesuit education and pastoral ministry, Fr. Cunningham now resides at St. Ignatius Hall, a community of senior Jesuits, praying for the Church and the Society of Jesus.
Born and raised in central Illinois, Fr. Cunningham entered the St. Stanislaus Seminary in the former Missouri Province after completing high school in 1951. Following the novitiate and juniorate, he studied at Saint Louis University, earning both a bachelor’s degree and a licentiate in philosophy.
He began his apostolic ministry at St. John’s College in 1958 in Belize, where he taught English, Latin and elocution.
After a year, he was sent to Loyola University of Chicago, where he earned a chemistry degree. Then it was on to theology studies at St. Mary’s College in St. Marys, Kansas, from 1961 to 1965. During this time, he also served as a chaplain and guidance counselor at a high school in Topeka, Kansas. He was ordained a priest on June 16, 1964, in St. Marys.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in sacred theology at Saint Louis University in 1966, he returned to Loyola Chicago, where he earned both a Master’s in guidance and counseling and a Ph.D. in educational testing and research. At the same time, he worked as a chaplain and counselor at Alvernia High in Chicago (1966-72), and at Loyola as a lecturer in the education department (1967-69) and as assistant to the vice president and dean of faculties (1969-75).
From 1975 to 1977, he was assistant dean of the Foster McGaw Graduate School at the National College of Education. Father Cunningham held administrative roles at Saint Louis University from 1977 to 1982, directing the premedical and predental programs. He then served in a similar role for the American Dental Association in Chicago.
Beginning in 1986, Fr. Cunningham was assigned to a series of pastoral roles in Colorado and Illinois. He was the treasurer and business manager for the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, for three years, from 1992 to 1995, after which he served in parishes in Illinois as he cared for his mother.
He was missioned as a retreat and spiritual director at White House Jesuit Retreat Center in St. Louis in 2000, serving there for nine years. Beginning in 2009, he served the Jesuit Hall Community in pastoral and retreat ministry, remaining there through the community’s move to St. Ignatius Hall in 2023.
