In Memoriam: Donald Craig Romero

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him

As missionaries, we often have recourse to the intercession of the Church’s patron Saint of Missions – St. Therese of Lisieux.  Known for her “little way”, and her exhortation to sanctify every thought and action by offering it to Jesus, St. Therese was never a foreign missionary. Rather, Therese offered her sacrifices, work and prayer for missions. In doing so, we believe, she brought as many souls to Jesus as the greatest of preachers. This Thursday, Family Missions Company gained another heavenly patron saint whose humility, holiness, prayer, and sacrifice reflected that of our missionary patroness.

Donald Romero, beloved husband of Cheryl Romero, and father to Sarah Harrington and Sammy Romero (one of our foreign missionaries), went to be with Jesus after heroically fighting the crippling pain of bone cancer for over 15 years.  Until weeks before his death, with his bones worn paper thin and every step causing him real discomfort, “Uncle” Donald was working hard to get FMC facilities ready for this year’s Intake Missionaries, using his exceptional electrical and handyman skills and smiling and praising Jesus the entire time.

During the years that he knew his earthly life was coming to an end from cancer, Donald stayed focused as always on eternity, offering all of his sufferings with a smile, and happily volunteering to help with any little job. He understood better than anyone, that by doing as St. Therese showed, “everything for love”, he was doing everything for Jesus. He lived his “little way” as a husband, father, and hard worker right here in Abbeville. No one who knew Donald could doubt that he loved Jesus, loved missions, loved souls, and never lost an opportunity to sacrifice, pray, or work to build God’s Kingdom. No one could have given more, or given more happily, than Donald did.

Big Woods Community House Dedication Mass

As a lifelong friend of FMC’s founders, the Summers family, Donald recognized the importance of missions long before FMC came into existence. He bravely drove his little family to Mexico to visit the Summers, and show his wife and children the beauty of mission life, even before any organized groups began to visit. Later, he continued to pray and sacrifice for missions. He encouraged his own beloved son and daughter in law, as well as his precious grandchildren to go as missionaries to the other side of the world. This was a great sacrifice for him, as he knew that his cancer could take him at any moment, but one that brought him obvious joy. (His own blog post about that tough choice: A Missionary Family)

Though Donald’s virtues were never displayed before multitudes, those who loved him lived in awe of his holiness. At his passing, his niece remarked, “Uncle Donald held the fruits of the Holy Spirit in his hand.” And he did. No one exemplified love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control more than Donald – through his loving joyful constant service in the midst of years of horrible illness. He gave generously of his time, his skilled and patient labor,  his sacrifices, his finances, all for missions, all for Jesus – even though he himself was confined to the US by cancer.

“Do everything for love, refuse Him nothing, be pleased when He gives a chance to prove to Him that I love Him – all this in peace, in abandonment,” St Therese is known for teaching the universal Church these virtues through her words, but at FMC we have been privileged to learn them first hand from our precious friend and saint, now in heaven, Donald Romero.

Uncle Donald, pray for us!

For information concerning visitation and funeral arrangements please consult the Vincent Funeral Home: https://bit.ly/1uohmnt