Fr. Norman O’Neal was surprised by his colleagues with a birthday cake and serenade at the Faculty and Staff End of Year Party.

Rev. Norman B. O’Neal, S.J. celebrated his 90th Birthday with colleagues at the Faculty and Staff End of Year Party on Saturday, May 21. He was surprised by members of the faculty and staff with a cake and birthday serenade.

Fr. O’Neal was born in Shreveport on May 24, 1926, the year that Jesuit High School opened on Carrollton and Banks in New Orleans.

He has been a fixture, a very valuable fixture, at Jesuit High School since 1960. For 55 years (he took one year off) he has served as a chemistry teacher, department chairman, and alumni chaplain. And he is still going.

In 1991 Fr. O’Neal wrote “The Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola,” an account of the life of St. Ignatius, on the occasion of the Ignatian Year in order to better acquaint the lay teachers, staff, and students of Jesuit High School with the founder of the Society of Jesus.

He is a graduate of Shreveport’s St. John’s College (which became Jesuit High School in 1960 and Loyola Prep in 1982). Fr. O’Neal joined the Society of Jesus on Sept. 7, 1947 and was ordained as a priest on June 17, 1959.