![\"Monsignor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PRN-L-Msgr-Dolan-3.jpg\")
Monsignor Neal Dolan speaking during the Kiwanis Club of Los Rancheros\u2019 2024 Breakfast of Champions event in Rancho Bernardo. (Elizabeth Marie Himchak)<\/p>\nMonsignor Neal Dolan, pastor emeritus of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Parish in Poway and a longtime Rancho Bernardo resident, died on July 7 at age 88.<\/p>\n
Dolan came to St. Michael\u2019s in 2001 to serve as the third pastor in the parish\u2019s history. It was a position Dolan held until 2014 when he retired after celebrating 50 years as a priest. In retirement, he continued to celebrate masses at the parish through this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonsignor Dolan was a very good friend of mine,\u201d said the Rev. Mel Monreal, St. Michael\u2019s current pastor who for nine years was Dolan\u2019s associate pastor at the parish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked up to him and learned so much from him,\u201d Monreal said. \u201cHe was extremely organized and a spiritual workaholic. He was a wonderful shepherd to St. Michael\u2019s and other parishes. I will miss him dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dolan was also well-known beyond the parish, being invited to speak at community events in the Poway\/Rancho Bernardo area over the years. This included the Kiwanis Club of Los Rancheros\u2019 2024 Breakfast of Champions scholarship presentation for Poway Unified School District student-athletes.<\/p>\n
Monsignor Neal Dolan speaking during the Kiwanis Club of Los Rancheros\u2019 2024 Breakfast of Champions event in Rancho Bernardo. (Elizabeth Marie Himchak)<\/p>\n
When addressing the students and their supporters, Dolan spoke about the importance of having \u201can attitude of gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a good attitude of gratitude usually you get through anything in life,\u201d Dolan said before giving the invocation and blessing the students.<\/p>\n
He said while the honorees were born with their talents, \u201cthey have to be developed. That is what they have been doing \u2026 and sharing them with others. \u2026 You are the future members of our society. We certainly respect you for who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing his talents is something Dolan did throughout his life.<\/p>\n
When announcing Dolan\u2019s death in a parishwide email on July 7, it was written that \u201chis greatest gift was bringing people together in faith and friendship. He believed the Church was more than a building \u2014 it was a family. He encouraged parishioners to grow closer to Christ by growing closer to one another through Small Church Communities, revitalized the Men\u2019s Ministry, established a Women\u2019s Ministry and had a special love for children, teens and young adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe introduced a Sunday evening Mass for youth, formed the children\u2019s choir for the 10:45 a.m. Mass and invested in a Young Adult Minister to help young adults find their place in the life of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is also credited with leaving a physical legacy at the Poway parish through the completion of the south campus at St. Michael\u2019s School and construction of the parish\u2019s Holy Family Center, which was later also named in his honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet those who knew him would say his greatest legacy is found not in buildings, but in the countless lives he touched with his kindness, gentle humor, compassionate heart and unwavering faith,\u201d according to the email.<\/p>\n
Neal Dolan was born in Minnesota on May 21, 1938, the fourth of eight children to Genevieve Fay Dolan and Mark Dolan. Close friends and family recently joined Dolan in celebrating his 88th birthday with a party in St. Michael\u2019s Monsignor Neal Dolan Holy Family Center.<\/p>\n
![\"Monsignor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PRN-L-Msgr-Dolan-2.jpg\")
Monsignor Neal Dolan, seated center, with family members and close friends during his 88th birthday party on May 21 in the St. Michael\u2019s Monsignor Neal Dolan Holy Family Center. (Courtesy of St. Michael\u2019s)<\/p>\n
It was as a high school student in the 1950s that Dolan began discerning his vocation to the priesthood, according to a biography provided by the parish. He graduated from the San Diego College for Men (now the University of San Diego) in 1960 and after completing his seminary training in the Diocese of San Diego was ordained on March 19, 1964.<\/p>\n
Dolan served as an associate pastor within the diocese through the 1960s and 1970s, with a focus on sacramental ministry, education and youth outreach. He also started taking on various diocesan leadership responsibilities in addition to parish ministry during the 1970s and 1980s.<\/p>\n
He was appointed to be the founding pastor of Ascension Catholic Parish in Tierrasanta in 1980 and oversaw the construction of its church, which was dedicated in late 1985.<\/p>\n
During the 1990s, Dolan was pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lakeside, where he focused on parish renewal and evangelization, according to his biography.<\/p>\n
As of press time, services were pending. When announced, details will be added to the online version of this article at PomeradoNews.com.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers his family has requested donations to the St. Francis Seminary for Vocations Development or the Catholic Diocese of San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monsignor Neal Dolan, pastor emeritus of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Parish in Poway and a longtime Rancho Bernardo resident,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[159653,74,76,75,159652],"class_list":["post-397435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-msgr-neal-dolan","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-st-michaels-catholic-parish-poway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}