| Date of Birth: | 08/07/1906 |
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| Date of Death: | 04/08/1997 |
| Date of Ordination: | 30/11/1932 |
Fr John Honner
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Biography:
John Honner was born at Maitland, SA on July 8, 1906 the eldest son of Mr J. S. and Mr. Ivy M. Honner. He received his early education at Miss Bartlett's private school at Maitland. Following the death of his mother on January 13, 1917 he was sent to Junee, NSW to be cared for by relatives. He continued his education there under the Sisters of Mercy and later with the Sacred Heart Fathers at Douglas Park. On his return to Adelaide he completed his secondary education at the Marist Brothers College (Glenelg-Somerton Park). His theological studies were undertaken at the Mosgiel Seminary, New Zealand. On the November 30, 1932 he was ordained a priest in St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide. An ordination breakfast then followed in St Francis Xavier's Cathedral Hall for 100 guests. In the absence of Archbishop Spence, Monsignor Hourigan presided and spoke of how widely the Honner family was known on Yorke Peninsula. He stated that, "The Honners are known as sound solid Catholics". He went on to say that "priests of the present day could do so much more than the pioneers who had horses for transport instead of motor cars”. John Honner's first appointment was as Assistant Priest at Port Lincoln for the years 1934 to 1937. He was stationed in the Cathedral parish from 1938 to 1940. After a brief period as Assistant Priest at Brighton parish in July 1940 he was appointed Chaplain to the Armed Forces, a position he held until January 1946. He rose to the rank of Senior Chaplain. During the war years, he served as Army Chaplain in the Middle East. Writing to Archbishop Beovich from his army post, Fr John said: "Australian and New Zealand priests with the Forces in the Middle East had happily escaped serious injuries up to the time of writing." There were, however, many near misses. At Tobruk there were eight Australian priests and one English priest.” He concludes his letter, "We, A.I.F. Chaplains ask only one thing from the folk at home, and especially from the children, and that is a good solid backing in the matter of prayers.” Final appointments, retirement, death February 1946 saw him appointed as Parish Priest of Riverton; from there in 1960 he moved to Murray Bridge where he stayed for 16 years, transferring to Willunga for two years and finally to Yorketown for 10 years prior to becoming a Pastor Emeritus. He had been for a number of years a Judge of the Church Matrimonial Court and was elected to the first Adelaide Senate of Priests in 1967. He retired to Francis Murphy Villa at North Plympton and died in the Southern Cross Care Nursing Home on August 4, 1997 at the age of 91. What sort of man was John Honner? He could be best described as one who spoke his own mind. This would happen even on such important occasions as when Archbishop Beovich would be addressing a Clergy Conference in St Francis Xavier's Hall in the late 1950s. The Archbishop was stressing the importance of Catholics presenting a recently issued baptism certificate when preparing for marriage - John Honner interrupted with some off-putting remark. The Archbishop hesitated a second or two and then with customary composure replied: “Fr Honner, that's not your best effort.” |