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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Father Clubb dies at 86; was teacher, husband, father, minister

Father Ronald Clubb

Father Ronald Clubb, who was ordained a priest in 1986 after having been married and serving as a permanent deacon, died June 23. He was 86.

Father Clubb was born in 1929 in Indiana. He married Doris Borgert in 1956, and the couple had five children. An educator, he worked in public schools in Detroit and Minneapolis and was principal of Derham Hall High School in St. Paul.

He was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1976. Doris died later that year.

His class of deacons was the first to be ordained following the Church’s restoration of the permanent diaconate following the Second Vatican Council.

As a deacon, Father Clubb served at St. John the Baptist in Savage and St. Leonard of Port Maurice in Minneapolis from 1977 to 1980. During those years he also served on the archdiocesan advisory committee on the Role of Women in the Church.

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From 1982 to 1986, Father Clubb studied at St. John’s University in Collegeville and the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. He was ordained a priest in 1986.

He served as an associate pastor of St. Peter, Mendota, 1986-1988; pastor of St. Dominic, Northfield, 1988-1995; and pastor of Holy Name, Minneapolis, 1995-2000. He also served as the canonical administrator of Risen Christ School in Minneapolis from 1995-1996 and chaplain for the Knights of Columbus Council No. 435 in Minneapolis from 1997-1998. He was also part of a group that presented a program on the sacrament of marriage to parishes.

Father Kevin McDonough, pastor of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul and Sagrado Coazon de Jesus and Incarnation in Minneapolis, said he and Father Clubb became friends while working together at St. Leonard.

“He dedicated most of that decade to raising his four children as a widowed father, while working full-time as a passionate educator and weekends as a deacon,” Father McDonough recalled. “When his youngest daughter went off to college, he entered the seminary, ready to give himself completely to Church ministry. But throughout his priesthood he never forgot his earlier vocations. He loved to help married couples, especially those facing difficulties. He was absolutely dedicated to Catholic education, helping to establish Risen Christ School. He was committed to racial equality, and loved being the grandfather to his African-American family.”

Father Clubb retired in 2000 and moved to Hawaii, where he served as an administrator at St. Benedict in Honaunau, until returning to Burnsville to live with his son. He died on the 60th anniversary of his wedding day.

Father Clubb is preceded in death by his wife, Doris, and two daughters, Leanne and Paula (the latter of whom died in infancy). He is survived by two sons and a daughter, their spouses, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be offered 11 a.m. June 28 at Holy Name in Minneapolis. Visitation will be held at 9 a.m. prior to the Mass.

 


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