Former retreat director in Buffalo dies at age 77

Father James Deegan, 77, a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate who served 23 years at Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, died Sept. 20.

A native of Richfield, Father Deegan was ordained a priest in 1970 at St. Casimir in St. Paul. His ministries included serving as a chaplain at then-St. Paul Ramsey and then-Divine Redeemer hospitals in St. Paul, as vocation director and provincial at the Oblates’ Provincial House in St. Paul, as parochial vicar at St. Casimir and in several positions at the retreat center. In addition to serving as the retreat center’s director from 1994 to 2003, and again from 2011 to 2020, Father Deegan was a staff member and on the Oblate preaching team.

Father Deegan also served as an assistant pastor in Wisconsin, a hospital chaplain in Brainerd and an associate director and director of Oblate novices in Illinois.

Father Deegan is survived by four brothers and their families.

A funeral Mass was held Sept. 24 at St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo. Father Deegan is interred at St. Henry’s Oblate Cemetery in Belleville, Illinois.