90 Years Young on February 21, 2019
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Msgr. Donald McAndrews
90 Years Young On February 21, 2019
Congratulations to Msgr. Donald McAndrews who joins the “90s Club” on February 21, 2019. He studied at St. Peter’s Seminary for six years and was ordained by Most Rev. Henry T. Klonowski, the Auxiliary Bishop of Scranton, PA on June 5, 1954. He is the last surviving member of our illustrious Scranton Diocese Alumni Chapter which had over twenty-five members in it.
Recently, I have had a number of lengthy phone conversations with Monsignor, and am amazed at how active he has been, even in his senior years. He has served in a number of parishes in the diocese. He was instrumental in a complete renovation of the 100-year old parish of St. Aloysius, completed in 1993, for more than one million dollars. For thirty years he served as the Executive Director of Catholic Social Services, ending in 1992.
He is proud of being responsible for developing many new programs, including The Bridge Youth Program, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Court Advocate Program, Gabriel House, and Project HEAD for the elderly. He has served on the board of directors of more than nine different health care institutions and agencies, not to mention half a dozen diocesan councils and committees.
He is also the founder of St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen. They bought a garage in Wilkes-Barre for the kitchen location. Various labour unions contributed materials and labour for its restoration, installing a kitchen and dining room area, along with a garage and free clothing room on the first floor. It opened in 1983 and continues to serve 400 guests every day since.
He is especially happy about being a co-founder of Ecumenical Enterprises, Inc., along with Rev. Dr. Jule Ayers, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre. They addressed housing needs for the elderly and low-income families in the area, building nine high rises on the Meadows Campus in Dallas. They began with $24,000 and now their assets are worth more than $50 million, employing more than 300 employees serving more than 2000 people every year. A new Meadows opened in 2018 as part of the 50th anniversary of the Founding of Ecumenical Enterprises in 1968. Wow!
Monsignor has received three awards for his outstanding work for the poor and the needy. Even in retirement, he celebrated Mass and heard confessions at the Cathedral, even offering the T.V. Mass at 12:10 at St. John the Baptist Parish in Larksville and St. Mary’s Parish in Dunsmore.
Here is one of our alumni members, noted for “getting the job done”, and doing it with laughter and joy as he welcomed everyone whom he met. His picture, taken in November 2018, beams this out to us.
If any of our own alumni are traveling in the Scranton area, I am sure he would appreciate a “pop call” and be most willing to hand on some of his vast wisdom as to how to make the gospel applicable in our parishes today, especially to us seniors! Even some kind of conference call to him could reap rich benefits for many of our dioceses. (570-207-5586, or 570-357-2981) He is easy to talk to!
He continues to be happily retired, living at 1600 Green Ridge Road, Dunmore, PA 18509. He is looking forward to hitting the big 100! Ad multos annos!
Fr. Mike Prieur