AFFIRMING A PRIESTHOOD, ROOTED IN A REFORMED AND RENEWED CHURCH

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McDaid, Brendan

Austin, TX

Brendan Gabriel McDaid was born to Edward McDaid and Rose Hunter of Letterkenny County, Donegal, Ireland, on March 24, 1941. He was the youngest of seven children. He attended St. Eunan's College in Letterkenny and seminary in Rome, Italy prior to moving to the United States. Brendan came to the States to serve in ministry for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas. during that period he was Secretary to the Bishop, Thomas Drury. Brendan left active ministry in 1971 and moved to Austin, Texas. There he studied medicine and became a registered nurse. He had the good fortune to meet his wife, Susan Bennett McDaid in Austin. They married in 1976. The McDaid family soon moved to Konsvinger, Norway, where Brendan passed the exam to be a registered nurse in the Norwegian language after a four month study of that language. The family moved back to Austin in 1980 and Brendan found employment with the city of Austin as a pediatric nurse. He reached the status of nurse practitioner during his years with the city. Susan passed away in 1995 in a car accident and Brendan raised two daughters, Guin McDaid and Daphne McDaid and one grandson, Rowan McDaid.

Brendan was a linguist, who mastered numerous languages because his hobby was the study of modern languages. He was proficient in Gaelic, Russian, Norwegian, English, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, German, and French. While in Austin, for the purpose of earning a few extra dollars, he found part time work with a law firm in the city, for whom he translated documents from Russian to English and vice-versa.

Brendan McDaid was a political activist all of his life. He espoused any and all liberal causes for the benefit of his fellow man. He was known to march and to demonstrate for any and all causes in Austin and in other parts of our country. He was a champion of the civil and human rights of all people everywhere. He spoke openly and freely always regarding his feelings about any form of injustice he saw. He had no patience with people whom he thought were detrimental to the progress of the human race. Brendan sought to get all friends and acquaintances involved with him in his pursuit of human betterment. He was a soft-spoken but firm individual, intolerant of anyone who was narrow-minded and self-centered. He was well-read and always spoke from an informed opinion on a huge volume of interesting and relevant subjects. He was a true gentleman, who drank a Guinness or two on occasion and enjoyed all types of food regularly. Brendan was a man who never turned his back on a challenge. He supported the causes and needs of all whom he knew. It was Brendan who sought after the answers when it seemed that no one could come up with a workable solution to an existing situation. Brendan was regarded by many friends as the most intelligent man they ever met in their entire life.

Brendan is survived by his daughters and grandson, two brothers, Kevin and Pascal McDaid, and sister, Brida Lang, and numerous members of an extended family who live in the United States and in Ireland.