Retired Stockton Bishop Donald William Montrose, a former Los Angeles auxiliary bishop, seminary college president and beloved previous pastor of Resurrection Church famous for singing mariachi songs during parish fiestas, died May 7 on the 59th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

In declining health for some time, the bishop would have turned 85 on May 13, the day after his funeral was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton, where he remained following retirement. He served as head of the Stockton Diocese from 1986-1999, inaugurating many new outreach efforts to the growing Hispanic community, including increasing Spanish-language Masses offered throughout the diocese.

"He was a gentleman to the last," said Resurrection pastor, Msgr. John Moretta, who visited Bishop Montrose in hospice the week before his death. "He was aware he was dying, and he had a beautiful, accepting spirit. He wasn't able to talk much, but he was able to whisper a 'thank you' and was alert to the end."

"Bishop Montrose was a true priest who truly loved the people," added Msgr. Moretta, who attended the May 12 funeral along with a group of parishioners who packed a bus for the one-day round-trip. "He was venerated by parishioners as a man of great sanctity. Those who still remember him have a great affection for him."

Born in Denver in 1923, Bishop Montrose attended Blessed Sacrament School in Colorado's capital city from the fourth-through-seventh grade. After his family relocated to Southern California, he finished his elementary education at Holy Family School in Glendale and went to Cathedral High School for ninth grade.

For his remaining high school and junior college years, he went to Los Angeles College, the archdiocesan junior seminary, graduating in 1943. He completed his final years of theology and seminary training at St. John's Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood for the Los Angeles Archdiocese on May 7, 1949.

"As an early seminarian from our parish, we always considered him someone to be proud of. We were doubly proud when he became a bishop," said Sister of Charity Suzanne Stopper, who was a few grades behind the future bishop at Holy Family School.

Spanish scholar
Retired Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop John Ward, in the class three years ahead of Bishop Montrose, remembers a studious classmate who took his professor's exhortation to learn Spanish seriously, making language-immersion trips to Mexico during his summers between seminary coursework.

"[Speaking Spanish] was one of his great assets. He was a great student, loved by all. He had an ability to make friends and keep them and was a really great classmate, priest and gentleman. He was a stalwart bishop who defended the teachings of the church profoundly," commented Bishop Ward.

Until 1964, Bishop Montrose served in parishes and at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana as a teacher and principal. He did graduate studies in Spanish at Long Beach State College and at National University in Mexico City and earned a master's degree in education from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. He began a 13-year tenure as archdiocesan superintendent of high schools and colleges in 1964.

Msgr. Jeremiah Murphy, pastor of St. Victor in West Hollywood who was assistant superintendent of schools at the time, said Bishop Montrose was very popular. "All the principals loved him," said Msgr. Murphy. "He was always very considerate. His great ability was listening to people and developing their good ideas into policies. He was a very spiritual man with a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary."

Msgr. John Sheridan, 92, pastor emeritus at Our Lady of Malibu, described Bishop Montrose as a personable, low-key individual. "There was a grand simplicity about his whole demeanor," said Msgr. Sheridan. "He had a great devotion to the rosary. He was a delightful man, a man of extraordinary common sense. You couldn't help but like him."

Prayer proponent
In 1970, Bishop Montrose arrived at Resurrection Church in East L.A. to assist Msgr. Ramon Garcia, the ailing pastor. His fluency in Spanish made him an instant hit in the overwhelmingly Latino parish, especially when he sang Spanish songs during liturgy, at Marian processions and on stage with mariachi bands at the annual fiesta. He was named pastor in 1973, heading the parish for a decade.

Besides leaving a singing-priest legacy at the parish, Bishop Montrose started some two dozen local prayer groups --- many of them still active today --- in response to gang problems in the community.

As he told The Tidings on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination: "When I began as pastor of Resurrection, we were having funerals for gang members at least once a month. I recall visiting someone's home, and hearing gunshots outside and having bullets fly over my head. So we established neighborhood prayer groups, small groups, to pray for the community and an end to violence.

"A few years later," he recounted, "Cardinal Manning wanted to celebrate a Mass for all those killed in gang shootings, and his office called to ask us how many we'd had at Resurrection the previous 12 months. By then, we hadn't had a single gang-related funeral in two years. And it wasn't anything I said or did with the gangs themselves; the only thing I can attribute the decline in violence to is the power of prayer."

Dominic Berardino, president of Southern California Renewal Communities, remembers Bishop Montrose as being involved in the local Catholic charismatic renewal movement early on. "He was one of the first pastors to allow a healing service at his parish," which took place in 1979, said Berardino.

"He was such a tremendous pastor. He was a no-nonsense guy --- practically minded --- but he also had a strong spiritual sense for seeing people spiritually renewed…He aimed for ecclesial renewal on both a corporate and collective level back in the early '80s," added Berardino, who noted Bishop Montrose joined the SCRC board of directors in 1980 and was "an active member even [after becoming] bishop."

On March 25, 1983, Msgr. Montrose was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles --- along with then-Msgr. William Levada (now Vatican prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) --- by Cardinal Manning. He served as episcopal vicar for Ventura County and, from mid-1984 through 1985, was president of St. John's Seminary College.

On Dec. 19, 1985 --- several months after Stockton Bishop Roger Mahony was installed as Archbishop of Los Angeles --- Bishop Montrose was appointed the fourth Bishop of Stockton, and installed on Feb. 20, 1986. His legacy in Stockton includes overseeing the growth of the School of Ministry, the RENEW program, and the increase of Spanish-speaking priests in the diocese.

Bishop Montrose also brought two orders of sisters to the diocese: the Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a contemplative community, and the Eucharistic Franciscan Missionary Sisters. He served as a member of the board of directors and the curriculum committee for the California Hispanic Institute, and as a member and Episcopal moderator of the National Committee for the Charismatic Renewal. Following his retirement in 1999, he was succeeded by Bishop Stephen Blaire, also a former Los Angeles auxiliary bishop.

Catholic News Service contributed to this story.