Msgr. Daniel H. Brennan, 85; Served Parish in Costa Mesa for 26 Years

All Souls’ Day, when Christians the world over honor the faithful departed, turned more personal Sunday for members of a Costa Mesa church.

The Roman Catholic congregants of St. John the Baptist Church were told during services that Msgr. Daniel Hugh Brennan, 85, had died Thursday of congestive heart failure.

Extolled for his gentle humor and weighty sermons, Brennan served the parish for 26 years.

“At the age most people retire, he was just getting started,” the church’s pastor, Father Martin Benzoni, said after the services. “He was a real priest, one who loved his ministry and his faith.”

Born Jan. 18, 1918, in the steel mill town of West Aliquippa, Penn., Brennan was the youngest of seven children. He was ordained in June 1943 in Pittsburgh and returned there this summer to celebrate his 60 years in the priesthood. A celebration at St. John the Baptist had been planned for the weekend before his death but was canceled when he was admitted to the hospital.

Since coming to the Costa Mesa church in 1977, Brennan’s duties have included counseling those in troubled marriages as a judicial vicar for the Diocese of Orange.

Most churchgoers did not know of Brennan’s death until they arrived for services and saw the black-bordered notices on the bulletin boards and a memorial portrait next to the altar.

Dabbing her moist eyes with a lacy white handkerchief, longtime parishioner Victoria Baer said Brennan will be sorely missed. The priest baptized one of her daughters and presided at the wedding of another.

Brennan was personable with every church member but especially enjoyed joking with children, Baer said. When Baer’s eldest daughter was a child, Brennan convinced her that he had a pony with him in the confessional.

The depth of his intellectual homilies challenged some churchgoers, but Baer said most enjoyed his perspective on Biblical matters. “His sermons had substance,” she said. “He really knew his faith well.”

The church will hold a vigil at 7:30 p.m. today. The burial Mass is at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, also at the church, 1015 Baker St.

During the Sunday services, the pastor drew the connection between Brennan’s death and All Souls’ Day.

“Taking special time to honor the faithful departed is especially appropriate for our parish as we reflect on Msgr. Brennan,” Benzoni said. “We pray not only for him but for everyone who has passed before us.”