REVEREND MONSIGNOR O'NEIL C. D'AMOUR was appointed the first associate secretary of the National Catholic Educational Association's Department of Superintendents in 1957 by Monsignor Frederick Hochwalt, NCEA general secretary, and he died of a heart attack April 18, 1968, at the NCEA Convention in San Francisco.
O'Neil Charles D'Amour was born March 12, 1919, in Rapid River, Michigan, to O'Neil and Alice (Caville) D'Amour. Half of his elementary schooling was in the Rapid River Public Schools and the other half at All Saints School, Gladstone, Michigan. He graduated from St. Norbert High in DePere, Wisconsin, in 1936. From there he went to Nazareth Hall Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, for a year and then back to DePere to St. Norbert College where he earned a B.A. degree in 1940. For his priesthood training he attended Theological College at The Catholic University of America and was ordained for the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan, December 7, 1943, by Bishop Francis J. Magner. He was elevated to Domestic Prelate in 1960.
He spent his first years in parish ministry as an assistant pastor in Michigan at St. Joseph, Hancock; St. Anne, Escanaba; and St. Agnes, Iron River. He returned to The Catholic University of America in 1948 and earned an M.A. degree. When he returned to the Diocese of Michigan in 1950, he held multiple appointments, namely, chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital, Menominee, diocesan assistant director of religious education (CCD), and administrator of Epiphany Parish, Menominee. A year later he became chaplain at St. Francis Hospital, Escanaba, until 1954 when he became pastor of St. Anthony, Wells, and superintendent of schools, a part-time post.
In 1957 he assumed the position of associate secretary of the NCEA Department of Superintendents and remained in that position until 1964, when he returned to the Diocese of Marquette to become pastor of St. Mary, Norway. His pastorate was only two years in length because Bishop Thomas Noa appointed him to the fulltime position of superintendent in the diocese in 1966.
In November 1967, he was granted a leave of absence by Bishop Noa to serve as special assistant for boards of education in the NCEA's Superintendents Department. In this post he was to "promote the exchange of information on boards among interested parties, assist in the development of associations of boards, develop in-service training programs, and offer other forms of information and assistance." This position was established at the request of the department.
The board movement was his great interest. He inaugurated one of the early boards with laity among the members during his superintendency, and he chaired a department committee that published Voices of the Community, regarding boards of education. When his sudden death was announced by NCEA, the department president, Msgr. William M. Roche, said: "Catholic education, the church and the nation must alike mourn the passing of this great priest and concerned American educator."
