Father Roderick Bernard ‘R.B.’ MacDonald

Funeral service for the late Father Roderick Bernard ‘R.B.’ MacDonald, 86, was held October 31 in St. Ninian Cathedral, Antigonish, with Bishop Brian Dunn officiating, assisted by Father Donald MacGillivray, Father John Barry and priests of the diocese. Burial was in the parish cemetery. Father MacDonald died October 27, 2018, in Green Meadows Community Residence for Seniors, North Grant, Antigonish County. Servers at the funeral Mass were Joe Chesal, Gerald MacIsaac and Willie Westenenk. Readers were John H. MacDonald, Mary MacDonald and Carmel Scott. Mary Lillian MacDonald and Teresa MacIsaac presented the offertory gifts. Music was provided by St. Ninian Cathedral Choir with organist Emery Van de Wiel. Pallbearers were Lee Kelly, Isaac MacDonald, Paul MacDonald, David McGreer, Matthew McGreer and Margaret Scott. Born January 10, 1932 in Sydney, he was the son of Angus Charles and Mary (MacIntyre) MacDonald. Fr. R. B. served the Diocese of Antigonish for more than six decades. Ordained in Rome on December 21, 1955, he served in parishes in Sydney and Antigonish, but his primary service was as Professor of Theology and later Dean of Arts at St. Francis Xavier University. He also served on the board of governors and the senate of the university. He trained as a scripture scholar and was a noted homilist, but his interests were broad and varied. He was an avid collector of books and stamps, a photographer, a creative knitter, and a tenacious researcher of the history of the diocese of Antigonish and the writings of John Henry Newman. Fr. R. B. graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1952, obtained a doctorate in sacred theology from the Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide, Rome, in 1958 and a licentiate in sacred scripture from Institutum Biblicum, Rome, in 1966. He is survived by two sisters, Marie (late Anthony) Cipriani, Milford, Massachusetts; Lorraine MacDonald, Sydney; brother, John H. (Anne) MacDonald, New Glasgow; three nieces, Karen (Herbert) Cares, Mary MacDonald (David McGreer), Carmel (Ken) Scott; nephew, Paul (Marilyn) MacDonald, and their families. He was predeceased by two brothers, Alan, Angus; nephew, Andrew. Online condolences: www.clcurry.com