First and Focused - College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University

When you enter the office of Alumni
Chaplain Don Talafous ’48, OSB, you
notice a theme.
There are dozens of photographs, most
featuring groups of people participating
in joyous occasions such as weddings,
baptisms and reunions. There is an eclectic
mix of artwork and keepsakes—obviously
gifts—from different parts of the world.
Lots of correspondence covers the desk, all
evidence of a person much beloved. These
items are the backdrop for the main attraction:
Fr. Don and his hospitable smile,
which have been greeting students and
alumni for nearly six decades.
“Fr. Don Talafous is,
with no question,
one of the finest
individuals I have
ever met in my life.
He has this inate
ability to relate to
all people.”
– Matt Bruns ’04
While it can be difficult to quantify a
person’s impact, some Fr. Don statistics are
staggering. At 84 years young, he has 2,314
subscribers to his quarterly newsletter,
hundreds read his Daily Reflection online,
and he sends more than 400 condolence
letters each year. Although he’s resisted
Facebook and other social media, a 2008
graduate started a “Father Don Remembers
My Name” Facebook fan page.
Someone with this level of connectedness
must have advanced training in sales
“He is a very
spiritual man. I
always asked him
to pray for me, and
he would respond, ‘I
always do. I pray for
all of the sinners.’
– Allan Lai ’80
or marketing, right? But when asked for
the secret to his success in maintaining relationships
with countless alumni, Fr. Don
simply says, “People respond well when
you treat them as individuals.”
His ability to remember names and
details is legendary. How does he do it? If
there’s a memory trick, Fr. Don is not telling.
“I just try to keep in mind how much
it means to people to have their name
remembered,” he says.
True to the Benedictine value of humility,
Fr. Don was reluctant to be the focus
of an article. Eventually he agreed that
some might find the article to have some
“redeeming social value” but suggested
that we get a balanced view of him by
“Fr. Don once told
me that if I wanted
to stay on his good
side to never take
one of his classes. I
followed that advice
and we have been
friends for over 25
years.”
– Tom Huot ’88
sjualum.com
33
interviewing alumni who could note his
crabbiness, impatience, propensity for
espresso and interesting food and aversion
to professional sports. We did our best.
“Something I
admire is the fact
that he still writes
snail mail. Being a
Benedictine volunteer
in Tanzania, I
understand the love,
time, and thought
that’s put behind the
act of snail mail. It
shows how brilliant
he is at maintaining
relationships with people.”
– James Slagle ’09
Fr. Don was born in Duluth, Minn.,
to parents who loved each other very
much but had divergent backgrounds. He
describes his father’s family as anti-Catholic
and his mother’s as firmly Irish-Catholic.
He attributes his sense of humor to his father,
Frank, and his love of people and the
social life to his mother, Camilla. Because
of his parents’ differing backgrounds, Don
and his three younger siblings had a spotty
religious education.
In high school, Don sought out religious
reading and under the guidance of his
parish pastor, a Saint John’s alumnus,
considered SJU. With the generous help
of Fr. Walter Reger, OSB, and Saint John’s
Abbey, Don entered Saint John’s in 1943
considering a vocation to religious life.
After scoping out other religious commu-