Fr. Don Barnd, 93, died October 23 in suburban Milwaukee. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Community at SHML with residence at the Congregational Home in Milwaukee.
Originally from Morris, Minn., Fr. Don entered the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 1952 after six years in the Navy. Initially, he served the province as a brother. He ministered at St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota, the novitiate at Ste. Marie, Ill., Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Ind., and Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Lenox, Mass., before volunteering for the missions in South Africa in 1968.
As a brother, Fr. Don said that he used the skills that he learned from his father. Mr. Barnd was an engineer and he taught his son at an early age how to use mathematics for a variety of projects. “I remember one time, my father, grandfather and I were going to paint the house,” said Fr. Don. “I knew then how to square numbers so he had me figure out how much paint we needed for the project. I didn’t get it right the first time, but after he showed me my mistake I never forgot how to do it again.”
Fr. Don returned to the United States in 1970, and said that he noticed a change in himself after South Africa. “I wanted to go back to school,” he said. Challenged by other SCJs, he began to think about the priesthood. He entered Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in 1975, and on his mother’s 81st birthday in 1978, he was ordained to the priesthood. Years later in his retirement, he returned to school again and earned his bachelor’s in religious studies from Cardinal Stritch University in suburban Milwaukee and a Master’s of Divinity degree from SHSST.
As a priest he served at the Kateri Indian Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., at St. Martin Church in Murdo, S.D., and as a “help-out” priest in parishes too numerous to list.
Services for Fr. Don will be held at the Good Shepherd Chapel at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake on Thursday, October 29. Visitation begins at 9 a.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m., followed by interment at Sacred Heart Mausoleum.
