Obituary Notice
This obituary notice has been digitally processed from a scanned archival document. Some words may be imperfectly rendered.
Fr. Kevin McKeown (1865-1947) “RHE: REVEREND KEVIN (McKEOWN) C.P, The Patriarch of the Province of St, Joseph is dead, Father Kevin 6éf the “acred Heart died on Vecember leth 1947, at the Hospital of the Sisters of St, ‘aut at Selly Park, after prolonged illness borne with exemplary~patience and courage. For some time now he has been confined to his room, and it is. several yeats since he has been able to do any priestly work, : Father Kevin was born on October 21st,1865,:at Abingdon in the United States, of Irish parents, emigrants to America, He was bought back to Ireland at an early age, amd sent to Sts Malachy!s Seminary, “rmagh, for signs of a priestly vocation had been early manifest, It seems to have been atthis period that Ralph McKeown - for that was his name in the world = had a bad fall, the effects of which lasted throughout life in the shape of almost constant pain in the head, With the- exception (as he once told the writer) of the years in Australia this veritable martyrdom was lifelong, At some time unknown, during his stay in the Seminary, the call to the Religious State, and more particularlyfour Congregation, made itself clear to the young student, and he left to be a Postulant at our Retreat of St, Mary's, Harborne, Birmingham, In 1884 he made his Réligious Profession at Broadway, In August 1887, Father Kevin, now a Sub-Deacon, became Prefect of Studies, in, charge of the Harborne Students, After due examination he was ordained Deacon by Bishop Ilsley, the Auxiliary of the Diocese, in our own Church, and he received the priesthood in (1888, He gave a mission in Harborne Church in the Lent of 1890 as a colleague of Father Edmund (McIntyre) C.P. | This early began a career as a missioner, in which for zeal and eloquénce Father Kevin was surpassed by few of his contemp- ories, In a few years he was transferred to Holy Vross, Ardoyne, | Belfast. At that time, Australia, and its problems for our Congregation was a matter of consern to those in authority, Volunteers were asked for, and obtained, The Young Father Kevin - answered the call, and spent many fruitful busy years in Australia, where as a missioner, his companion was on many . occasions, the late Father Hilary (Mara) C.PP of revered memory. In the summer of 1900 Father Kevin retured to England and resumed his work as a missioners, That work took him over Great Britain and Ireland, everywhere marked by the same qualities of fevour and z26al, notably in the Confessional, After his return to these countries, the Congregation shewed it's appreciation of Father Kevin by appointing him to the charge of various Retreats = Broadway, Carmarthen, Sutton, Belfast and lastly Harborne where he was Rector from 1932-1935, There was alsoa perhod + from 1920-1926 when he was local Superior at Heme Bays During thé Harborne Rectorship he had the consolation of. celebrating the Golden Jubilee of his Religious Proféssion on March 6th 1954, He was succeeded as Rector by the late Father
\ \ Alban, and remained tn Harborne, as a meme r af the Commun ity until his death, One important aspect of Father Kevints life must not be overlooked, On the otitbreak of the first world war in 1914 he-volunteered as a Chaplain, and did signal ‘service for th’ whole period, of ho diities, as miny other Fathers of the ‘dongregatijon- ‘AES. pe n poth womid Wars, ia a Of vecent years bfs many-~ iy Firmities increased upon him but. were borne with tifaliing4 et aah ca by one who, in spite of human failings, had‘sediaameybeen a-true and faithful | follower of our Holy Founder and Sen ey brue Dominic, Early in Decetiber At; was.found necessar¥ito remove him to the Hospital and “thes tte tersy ‘OF 5‘Gta Bay 1 BB: 8d aim with loving and efficient ¢are in his last “hotel Now ti lett he\has gone to his. reward*at the hands of our Divine Master,“after more than eighty years of earthky life, we have no misgiving in exclaiming " Well dotie, good and ‘fad thful sérventi {ile XXV. veel). 4 ee et ei eee le at ae tae at ene 0) nek ee te nee tae els 26
Source: Obituary Notices, Provincial Archive, St Joseph's Province. Passionist Congregation.