Donald J. “Don” Shoulberg

Memorial services for Donald J. “Don” Shoulberg, 76, Lawrence, KS, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 30, 2013 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence. Private inurnment will be at a later date. He died on Tuesday evening, March 26, 2013 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
He was born on October 23, 1936 in Norristown, PA, the son of Charles C. & Catherine Wafer Shoulberg.
Don was a Marriage and Family Therapist.
He received his B.A. degree from Notre Dame University in South Bend, IN. He studied at Gregorian University in Rome, he then was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest Dec. 19, 1964 in Rome. He studied at the Institut Catholique in Paris and then returned to the United States. He taught at Notre Dame High School in Niles, IL. He achieved a Master’s degree at Duke University. He received a ThM. in Pastoral Psychology from Duke Divinity School. While living in a parish in Durham, he met his future wife, Gini Hartigan, who was a Dominican Nun and teacher.
Don then did an internship in Marriage and Family Therapy at the Institute for Religion in Houston, TX. In 1970, he started working at the University of Kansas in the Student Health Services and taught in the School of Social Welfare. He received a PhD. in Speech Communication and Human Relations from the University of Kansas. In 1981, he became the Director of Marriage and Family Services for Menniger, Kansas City. Since then, he served in a group practice in Kansas City and most recently, was in private practice in Lawrence.
He was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the Notre Dame University Alumni Association, and the Kansas Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
He was married to Mary “Gini” Hartigan on July 10, 1971. She survives of the home.
Survivors include two daughters, Jennifer Shoulberg Lyon (husband, Steve Lyon), of Overland Park, KS, Erin Shoulberg (partner, Sherie Alden), of Ferrisburgh, VT; a son, Paul Shoulberg (wife, Jennifer Ruff), of Bloomington, IN; a twin-brother, Daniel Shoulberg, of Ambler, PA, another brother, Richard Shoulberg, of Norristown, PA; two sisters, Jude Totaro, Jenkintown, PA and Sister Cathe Shoulberg, of Blue Bell, PA; six grandchildren, Jackson James Lyon, Catherine Lyon, Ella Lyon, Isaiah Lyon, Clementine Shoulberg, and Tal Donald Shoulberg.
The family suggests memorials in his name to the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and School, the Lawrence Homeless Shelter, or to Grace Hospice and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.
A Prayer Service will be at 5 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2013 at the mortuary followed by a visitation until tipoff time for the K.U. basketball game (approx. 6:30 p.m.).
Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com
Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries.LJWorld.com.