Msgr. William Duggan, 74; Founded St. Didacus Church

Msgr. William Duggan, who founded St. Didacus Catholic Church in Sylmar and served five other Southern California parishes, has died in Culver City. He was 74.

He helped to establish St. Didacus Catholic Church in 1957 and was pastor there until 1971 when he became pastor of St. Elisabeth Catholic Church in Van Nuys.

He died Monday, six days after intestinal cancer was discovered during exploratory surgery, Father Tim Dyer said.

Duggan came to the United States in 1939, the year he was ordained a priest in his native Ireland. He served at Holy Family Catholic Church in Pasadena, St. Anselm Catholic Church in Los Angeles, St. Mary Catholic Church in Santa Maria and St. Agnes Catholic Church in Los Angeles before going to Sylmar to establish St. Didacus.

Duggan walked door-to-door, inviting Catholic families in the northeast San Fernando Valley to join the new church in addition to helping raise construction money, Dyer said.

“People speak of him as being a very kind and compassionate man,” Dyer said. “A lot of people came back to the church because of the treatment they received in the confessional.”

In 1971, Duggan went to St. Elisabeth Catholic Church as pastor after the death of Father Patrick O’Dwyer. He served the Van Nuys parish until 1987, when his health forced him to move to a convalescent home in West Los Angeles.

Duggan played Irish football in his homeland and was known as one of the best golfers among priests of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

He is survived by two brothers and four sisters.

A vigil is planned for 7:30 p.m. tonight and a Mass is scheduled to be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, both at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church, 6628 Cedros Ave. in Van Nuys. Burial will follow at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills. Praiswater Funeral Home in Van Nuys is handling the arrangements.