Father Mark A. Doyle
Father Mark A. Doyle, 74, former pastor of Our
Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church (St. Mary's) died Wednesday,
January 28, 2004 at Riverview Manor nursing home, Wisconsin Rapids.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady Queen of
Heaven Catholic Church, Wisconsin Rapids. Burial will be in Calvary
Cemetery, Wisconsin Rapids.
Father Doyle was born on February 26, 1929 in Cleveland, Ohio, to
John and Genevieve (nee Comerford) Doyle. He attended St.
Christopher Grade School in Rocky River, Ohio, and St. Ignatius High
School in Cleveland, Ohio. He then attended St. Jerome College in
Kitchener, Ontario. He went on to seminary and theology studies at
St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He was ordained to the
priesthood on May 24, 1958, at Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse by
the Most Rev. John P. Treacy.
Following a summer assignment as assistant pastor in 1958 to St.
Joseph Parish at Adams, Father Doyle was assigned as assistant
pastor to St. Wenceslaus Parish in La Crosse. Two years later, in
June 1960, he was briefly assigned as assistant pastor to St.
Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Rothschild and then to St. Anne
Parish in Wausau, where he also was an instructor at Newman High
School. The following year, he was assigned as a full-time
instructor at Assumption High School in Wisconsin Rapids. In 1966,
he also was appointed as assistant pastor at SS. Peter & Paul Parish
in Wisconsin Rapids.
In 1967, after completing chaplain school at Newport, R.I., Father
Doyle was given permission to enter the military services. He was
assigned as a Navy chaplain to Brooklyn Navy Yards in Brooklyn,
N.Y., where he served for 10 years until 1977. In January 1977,
Father Doyle returned to the Diocese of La Crosse, where he served
as chaplain to St. Michael Hospital at Stevens Point. Later that
year, he was appointed as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish
at Wisconsin Rapids, where he served until his retirement in
November 1998.
Father also served as athletic director at Assumption High School in
the early 1960s and was recently elected into the school's Athletic
Hall of Fame.
Survivors include his brothers, William (Mary) Doyle and Edward
(Shirley) Doyle, both of Bay Village, Ohio, and his sister, Nancy
Father was preceded in death by his parents, and brother, Jack
Doyle.
Friends may call at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in
Wisconsin Rapids from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the
church from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. There will be a parish prayer service
at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the church.
Ritchay Funeral Home in Wisconsin Rapids is handling all
arrangements.
Memorials may be designated to one of Father's greatest loves - St.
Mary's School in Wisconsin Rapids.