South Dakota’s priest, Monsignor James Doyle, dies at age 89

South Dakota’s beloved priest Monsignor James Doyle has died.

Ordained 64 years ago, Doyle founded St. Michael Parish in Sioux Falls and served at six South Dakota parishes.

He died May 24 at age 89.

“He tried to live by the Irish saying he loved: ‘Wear yourself lightly.’” said the Rev. Chuck Cimpl, who became like family to Doyle.

“He enjoyed that saying. So although he got a lot of accolades, he credited a lot of people for what happened. He’d want to be remembered as someone who was a dedicated priest through a lot of rough times in the church. He always had a positive attitude about the church and about how he could be an effective disciple.”

In his 2007 South Dakota Hall of Fame induction, Doyle shared three accomplishments that gave him the greatest satisfaction.

The first was “bringing university students through the Vietnam era and teaching them through an academic- and faith-based approach that the church is not irrelevant,” he said in his induction.

The second was founding St. Michael Parish, at the time the largest church of any denomination in South Dakota, where he held the first Mass on Christmas Eve in 1981.

And the third was establishing with other denominations an ecumenical outreach to the poor. He helped establish The Banquet in downtown Sioux Falls as a ministry to provide prepared food to those in need and was instrumental in starting St. Francis House and directly involved in its operations for many years.

“To the many that have been touched by the monsignor, his greatest asset is his profound humanity,” his Hall of Fame induction read.

Born in Minnesota, Doyle grew up in Lennox, South Dakota, attended high school at St. Thomas Military Academy and graduated from St. Paul Seminary. His post-graduate work at the University of San Francisco prepared him for a career as a professor of religious studies in addition to his lifelong service in the priesthood.

He was a Fulbright Scholar to India in 1977, while teaching at USD and serving as the Newman Center’s priest.

His only sibling, Sister Margretta Doyle, who died in 2019, and he both celebrated 50 years in their respective orders in 2007.

Cimpl’s path first crossed with Doyle in 1966, when Doyle was a priest in Mitchell and Cimpl’s family wanted him to attend Catholic high school there.

Doyle put an ad in the church bulletin asking if Cimpl, from Tabor, could stay with a family during the school year.

In 1979, their paths intersected again, as Cimpl was chaplain at O’Gorman High School and Doyle used the building for Sunday Mass while St. Michael was under construction.

“He said, ‘You’re living around O’Gorman, why don’t you help me out? So I was with him at St. Michael’s, and we went to Brookings together, and I took on SDSU, and he took on the parish,” Cimpl said. “I left Brookings a year earlier in 1994 to take on St. Therese, and he left in 1995 to take on St. Mary, so we’ve been close friends a number of years.”

Doyle was like a “priest-politician” – in a good way, Cimpl said.

“He had a way about him, a very good politician who could go across the board. He was very good at just working across the aisle.”

Doyle spoke at the funerals of both Republican Bill Janklow and Democrat George McGovern and had been a good friend to both.

Doyle, shown at the funeral service for his longtime friend George McGovern. Photo by David Aylward

“Going out to eat with him was something,” Cimpl said. “He would visit every table. Somebody would know him. And if they went to USD, he would know their grandmother and grandfather and moms and dads. He was so connected and had such a memory for recalling people. In many ways, he was just a real popular guy in the city.”

Doyle offered “a profound ministry of presence,” said Jo Gross, his longtime friend, who served as the first director of The Banquet.

“He had the ability to bring people together and to graciously move the hearts of the young and of the old. Gifted with a universal approach to humanity, he easily related to others and was committed to engage with diversity and those outside of his own faith tradition.”

Back surgery and two hip replacements contributed to an early retirement from St. Mary Catholic Church in 1999, though Doyle continued to be involved in the church and say Mass up until a few years ago.

“Saying Mass and giving the homily was the most enjoyable thing I did in the priesthood. I couldn’t wait for the alarm clock to ring each Sunday,” Doyle told the Argus Leader in a 2015 interview. “It was hard to give that part of my life up.”

For his 70th birthday, he chose to eat at The Banquet.

“He said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ That’s the type of guy he was,” Cimpl said. “He could mingle with the wealthy and the poor and feel comfortable in both settings and anywhere in between.”

Doyle would go on to make the first donation to St. Francis House’s recent capital campaign, which led to the construction of a new building completed in 2021.

He also was highly involved with ecumenical ministries and a frequent contributor to local publications.

“He had a way of working with others regardless of their denominations and getting them to cooperate and do marvelous things in our city,” Cimpl said.

He was known for his chaplaincy ministry to law enforcement, working closely with leaders of law enforcement agencies to make certain adequate support was provided to the men and women serving in uniform. His invocations at the annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner are legendary.

“He was one who wouldn’t want to have all the credit he often claimed he got,” Cimpl said. “He was always very appreciative of people who helped things along. At the same time, I think he would appreciate he touched people’s lives and that he made a difference being a priest and being there for people at various times in their life. That was the most important thing for him.”

No matter where he stood or with whom, the Monsignor “quietly became his message,” Gross added.

“For his profound presence, his moral intelligence, his laughter and his love, there is a hallowed sense that he belonged to all of us.”

True to his roots until the end, Doyle had his tombstone already engraved and waiting at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery.

He’ll be laid to rest under a tree, by design, because as he told friends, “We Irish don’t tolerate the sun very well.”

And just to be sure, he has had Cimpl monitor the area to ensure adequate shade.

Doyle’s funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. June 3 at St. Michael Parish. A liturgical wake service will begin at 7 p.m. June 2 at the church. Memorials are suggested to the Bishop O’Gorman Catholic Schools Teacher Endowment Fund or to St. Michael Parish.