Gustafson, Father G. Joseph
1970, September 15
Date of Birth: 1910, December 1
G. Joseph Gustafson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 1, 1910. While he was still very young, his family moved west, first to San Francisco, California, and then to Seattle, Washington. He began his primary education in St. Boniface Parochial School in San Francisco and completed it in the parish school of the Cathedral of St. James in Seattle. In 1924 he entered Bishop O’Dea High School in Seattle. After a year there he transferred to St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View, California. From there he graduated in 1930 and went on to St. Patrick’s Seminary in San Francisco. While at St. Patrick’s he received his B.A. from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore in 1932. That same year he was sent to the Sulpician Seminary (Theological College) at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for his Theology. In 1936 he received an M.A. in Education at the university. He was ordained on June 6, 1936.
Father Gustafson first taught in Seattle at St. Edward’s in the minor seminary. On returning east he made his Solitude in Catonsville, Maryland in 1938-1939. He was at St. Charles College in Catonsville in 1939-1940. Then he returned to The Catholic University of America, where he attained an M.A. in Philosophy at St. Mary’s Seminary, Paca Street. He then went back to Seattle in 1946. There he taught Philosophy and Education at St. Edward’s Seminary, and, in later years, at St. Thomas Seminary.
Beyond his seminary work, Father Gustafson was deeply involved in journalism. He was a contributor to a number of Catholic publications. He was one of the founders and the first editor of The Priest in 1945. In 1967 he became associated with Twin Circle. Father Gustafson died on September 15, 1970.
Adapted from data supplied by Father John Bowen and from The Voice.