Father Martin F. McGuill, a retired colonel with the U.S. Air Force, died in San Antonio, Texas, April 21 at 87.
Born May 5, 1938, in Refugio, Texas, he was the son of Charles J. McGuill and Ollie Lee Curbello. His father, Charles, was a member of a pioneer Irish South Texas family, and his mother, Ollie Lee Curbello, was a direct descendant of Juan Franklin Curbello, one of the Canary Islanders who founded the first civil municipal government in Texas and the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio.
He graduated from St. John’s Seminary in San Antonio in 1956, where he completed his early formation. He continued his theological studies at Assumption Seminary, also in San Antonio, which served as the major seminary for priestly formation. He was ordained for the Diocese of Corpus Christi June 6, 1964.
His ministry was characterized by continued studies: he earned a divinity degree from St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee; a master’s in religious education from Loyola University in Chicago; a master’s in church administration and a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington; and a doctorate in canon law, magna cum laude, from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the Angelicum) in Rome.
Father McGuill’s early ministry included serving as the first chaplain of the Corpus Christi State Supported Living Center. After his incardination into the Diocese of Arlington in 1977, he served in the diocesan tribunal, including as adjutant judicial vicar and as a judge of the interdiocesan tribunal of the Province of Baltimore.
He became pastor of St. Rita Church in Alexandria in 1986 and, in mid-1992, pastor of St. Luke Church in McLean where he served for 19 years. In a January 1992 Catholic Herald article marking the 40th anniversary of St. Rita School, Father McGuill joked, “We’re smaller, but better. Some of the old-timers at the parish like to call it ‘the little school that could.’ ”
For more than 40 years, Father McGuill ministered to families at Arlington National Cemetery, presiding over military funerals. He served as U.S. Air Force Catholic chaplain during his service and retired with the rank of colonel. There, he was a beloved figure among families, honor guard members and colleagues — a steady presence of pastoral care in moments of profound grief. One colleague wrote, “On each of the hundreds of services we were on together, I watched as he was able to connect with each family in a compassionate and meaningful way.”
After completing his ministry at Arlington National Cemetery, Father McGuill returned to San Antonio, a place he loved deeply and the home of his family’s earliest Texas roots. He spent his final years at Padua Place, an assisted‑living residence for retired priests and a ministry of the Missionary Servants of St. Anthony, where he lived among brother clergy and was cared for with devotion by the sisters and staff.
He is survived by his 28 nieces and nephews.
Nephew David McGuill of Fort Worth, Texas, said that Father McGuill always looked forward to getting the latest copy of the Catholic Herald in the mail. “He couldn’t read the newspaper anymore, but I would scan through it and read to him,” he said. “He recognized many names and always enjoyed it.”
“He devoted his life to walking with others through their hardest moments, reminding us that even in sorrow there is meaning,” said niece Christie McGuill Knudsen. “We will remember him not only for his service, but for the way he made each of us feel — valued, comforted, and never alone.”
A Mass will be offered at St. Anthony de Padua Church in San Antonio May 18 at 11 a.m. He will be laid to rest at the McGuill Cemetery in Blanconia, Texas, close to his childhood home and the ancestors he cherished, at a private burial to be scheduled later.
This story was updated.
