Noonan, John T.

NOONAN

Posted By: Lorelei Rusco (email)
Date: 11/22/2011 at 10:46:16

Noonan, John T. –
The Rt. Rev. John T. Noonan, vicar general of the Des Moines diocese of the Catholic church and pastor of the St. Augustin's church of that city, died Sunday with complications following influenza.

His death was deeply mourned throughout Catholic circles and also by many outside the Catholic faith for his deep interest in secular affairs and his activities in civic work wherever he has been located brought him many close
friends.

His pastorate here in Lenox was his first parish but even in that early part of his work the same broadmindedness characterized his work then as it did in the later days of his life.

Funeral services were held in Des Moines Wednesday. The Most Rev. J. J. Keane, archbishop of Dubuque officiated. Six priests and six members of the laity were pall bearers. Burial was made in Glendale Catholic cemetery.

Monsignor Noonan was born in Creston, November 6, 1876. He was educated in the Benedictine seminary at Atchison, Kansas, and the Sulpician seminary at Baltimore. When he finished his studies for the priesthood, he still was too young for ordination and he taught for a year at St. Ambrose college in Davenport. Finally he was granted a dispensation by the pope and received his holy orders nearly a year before he attained the required age.

Father Noonan's first parish was at Lenox. He then went to his old home, Creston, and established a new parish, and a few years later was brought to Des Moines by Bishop Austin Dowling, now archbishop of St. Paul. He rejuvenated the parish of St, Anthony's and was assigned to St, Augustin's in 1920.

At St. Augustin's, Father Noonan built a church that is regarded as one of the finest of its type in the country. He erected a $60,000 school building, a home for the Dominican sisters and was about to build a $40,000 pastorate
residence.

He has been a member of the bishop's council during most of his residence in Des Moines, was a member of the board of trustees of Des Moines Catholic college and was a former state chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. He became vicar general, with rank and authority second only to the bishop October, 1990, following the death of Monsignor Flavia.
Lenox Time Table, Lenox, Iowa March 1, 1928