April 6 in A.A. History

In 1960, A funeral Mass was held for Father Edward P. “Ed” Downing, S.J. [right]. In 2016, Magnificat published an article about him that said, in part,

    He was an old-school priest, made of the kind of fine cloth that prefers to disguise itself as sacking.  His funeral was packed.  From society matrons in mink coats to Skid Row drunks, people came from around the country to pay homage.
    “I really haven’t done anything,” Father Dowling once said. “It’s really simple. I just happened to be around.”

He was buried in St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Florissant, Missouri, near St. Louis.