By keith grant
O'Donnell was the pastor of St. Ignatius R.C. Church for 12 years before retiring in 1999. He continued to live and serve the Long Beach community since.
One of five children in his family, O'Donnell attended St. Theresa Avila School in Brooklyn before heading to Cathedral College Preparatory Seminary in 1943. He completed his studies for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington was an ordained by the late Bishop Thomas Molloy in 1955.
O'Donnell's first assignment was as an associate pastor at St. Philip Neri Church in Northport, and he was appointed to the Diocesan Commission on Church Music in 1957. The following year, he was transferred to St. Anne Church in Garden City, where he would stay for 11 years.
He first became a pastor for Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Copiague in 1975, and 12 years later joined St. Ignatius.
Deacon Tom Evrard remembered O'Donnell was a good spiritual advisor who had been supportive of Evrard's ef-forts to become a deacon.
He was a good priest. He was dedicated to his profession, Evrard said. O'Donnell, he added, was one of the better speakers the church had had.
He prided himself on his homilies. He was a good speaker.
O'Donnell was predeceased by his brother Rev. Francis, brother Donald, sister Maureen Clancy and sister Shelia O'Donnell. He is survived by his brother-in-law of Joseph Clancy, four nephews, one grandniece and three grandnephews.
A vigil mass was held on Tuesday evening at St. Ignatius and a funeral mass at the church Wednesday morning. Interment took place at Cemetery of the Holy Cross in his native Brooklyn.
