Donna Marie Steichen

Donna Marie (Merrigan) Steichen was born June 26, 1929, in Wadena, MN, to Margaret Ann Corcoran Merrigan and Maurice Merrigan. She grew up in Stearns County, MN, in a rural area on the Mississippi River. Many happy days were spent playing on the river (to the consternation of some of the neighbors). The Merrigan family moved to St. Cloud, MN, during Donna’s high school years. Donna attended St. Benedict’s College in St. Joseph, MN, but left after her sophomore year in order to support herself. She moved back to St. Cloud.

About this time, Donna was introduced to her future husband, Roy Steichen, by a mutual friend. Donna then moved to Minneapolis and obtained work in the business office of a banking institution. Roy was working at that time in Minneapolis at the Northwestern Furniture Mart. They were married at St. Thomas parish in Minneapolis on Oct. 28, 1950. They lived happily together, first in St. Louis Park, then relocating to St. Cloud, and eventually living in Ojai, CA, until Roy’s death in 2022 at the age of 99 after 71 years of marriage. Their oldest daughter, Laura Marie, was born in 1954, followed by John Joseph in 1959, Paul James in 1961 and Peggy (Margaret Ann) in 1963.

In her adult years, Donna was always an activist for important causes. She was primarily active in organizations that furthered the Catholic Church and the common good. She taught in religious education programs for many years, was first vice-President and then President of the Catholic League in Minnesota, had a long running television program on public tv which she used as a platform to defend innocent human life and other Catholic issues. She also wrote for the local diocesan paper, highlighting the same issues. She was involved with the pro-life movement from its inception, and wrote pro-life pamphlets which were used by local pro-life organizations to help women choose life and choose abstinence as a way of life.

Starting in 1977, when Rosemary Ruether gave a shocking keynote address at the Minnesota’s International Women’s Year meeting, Donna undertook to understand and expose the heresy and malevolence underlying the position outlined in that address. She spent the next dozen years investigating and writing about feminist theology as a form of liberation theology. She chronicled the disintegration of religious orders in the Church that followed the implementation of feminist theology. She went to many feminist conferences, so that she heard first-hand what was said, and wrote widely, especially for Fidelity Magazine, published by E. Michael Jones, to reveal the actual thought and plans of the feminist movement. All of this lead to the publication of her best-selling book Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism in 1991.

The meticulously well documented book was extremely well received among Catholic lay people. Donna was asked by Fr. Paul Marx of Human Life International (HLI) to join his team of Catholics presenting the truth about the Faith around the world. Donna went to the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, England and all over the United States as an advocate for truth. A highlight for Donna was a conference she went to where she worked with (now Servant of God) Jerome LeJeune.

In subsequent years, she wrote and edited other books: Prodigal Daughters: Catholic Women Who Came Home to the Church, and Chosen: How Christ Sent Twenty-Three Surprised Converts to Replant His Vineyard, as well as writing for the Catholic World Report, Latin Mass, LifeSite, Voices, and Touchstone Magazine.

Donna was an excellent artist as well as a remarkable writer. She told her children that as a young adult she realized that she could devote her life to her family and one other activity, either painting or writing. She decided that she could do more for Christ by writing and dedicated herself to that goal to great effect.

Donna was preceded in death by her husband of 71 years, LeRoy Steichen, her four sisters, three of her four brothers, her son-in-law Mark Berquist, and her great granddaughters, Aurora Steichen and Zaylia Heffernan. She is survived by her brother, Paul Merrigan, her two daughters, Laura Berquist and Margaret Ann O’Reilly (Paul), and her two sons, John (Ann) and Paul Steichen, 25 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Donna’s descendants are confident that when Donna was received in heaven, Jesus said to her, “Welcome, my good and faithful servant.”

In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to Thomas Aquinas College at thomasaquinas.edu or to Mother of Divine Grace School at modg.org.