St. John O'Sullivan
The Right Reverend Father St. John O'Sullivan (March 19, 1874 - July 22, 1933) was a Roman Catholic priest and noted restoration specialist.[1]
Father (later Monsignor) O'Sullivan was put in charge of the ruins of Mission San Juan Capistrano on July 5, 1910, making him the first resident priest since 1886. Working with his own hands, O'Sullivan led restoration efforts at the Mission while he recovered from chronic tuberculosis. In 1918 the Mission was given parochial status with Father O'Sullivan as its first modern pastor. Father O'Sullivan wrote Little Chapters About San Juan Capistrano in 1912, and in 1930 co-authored Capistrano Nights: Tales of a California Mission Town with Charles Francis Saunders and Charles Percy Austin. Monsignor O'Sullivan died in Orange, California in 1933 and was buried in Calvary Chapel in Los Angeles. On November 7, 1934 his remains were reinterred in the old Mission cemetery adjacent to the Serra Chapel, where they rest today.[2]