Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Staunton, Kevin

Pastor; born Invercargill, New Zealand, 5 February 1912; died Port Macquarie, NSW, 11 June 1983, aged 71.

When Kevin Staunton entered the noviceship at Loyola College, Watsonia, 30 July 1945, at the age of 33, he was a man of the world.

Staunton was the only child of parents who were themselves both only children. He had no very close relatives. But he always claimed New Plymouth, New Zealand, as his home town, for there he had spent most of his youth. He soon went into journalism, covering mainly sporting events, and at one stage his articles were syndicated for some 20 newspapers on the West Coast of the USA.

One of his great feats as a young man was to swim the straits between the north and south islands of New Zealand. He was never a sprinter or graceful in the water, but he always gave the impression of tremendous strength and on the long vacations threatened to swim out of sight.

He went on to the United States west coast, still in journalism, and then to London, having become the manager of the world famous wrestler, Canadian Earl McCready. Staunton was the first to comment on a telecast of wrestling from the Albert Hall, London, in 1938.

Staunton then came to Sydney and again to journalism. When the Second World War broke out he joined the New Zealand Army. He rose to the rank of acting-major and was involved in fighting in Greece and Crete. It was on Crete that he stopped a hand grenade with his mid-riff. He was the last of the wounded to be evacuated as the German paratroops took possession of the island. He was invalided out of the army as permanently disabled and given the maximum life pension. He settled in Sydney and for a third time took up journalism, this time with an interest in racing as well.

In his years of study at Loyola College, Watsonia, Staunton was always cheerful. Many of his stories, from all epochs of his life, were for restricted audiences only. He was always keen on physical fitness, running and taking exercises in his room. He was most meticulous in the study of philosophy, writing out all his theses very carefully and in great detail. He passed his examinations more than satisfactorily. He had a similar approach to theology, which he finished in 1954. He was later solemnly professed.

With a break of one year for tertianship at Sevenhill, 1957, Staunton spent six years on the staff of St Mary's, North Sydney, where he became well known as a preacher. His sermons were clear and down to earth; he always had something to say but he was never short.

From 1962-69 Staunton was parish priest of St Francis Xavier's, Lavender Bay. He was responsible for the extensive renovations to the church as well as to the church of the Star of the Sea, Kirribilli. He gathered together a considerable library of books as well. Every book was concerned with pastoral matters, especially with modern trends in parish life and organization. Cardinal Gilroy once said that he was the finest parish priest in the archdiocese and a model of what a pastor should be. It was in the later years at Lavender Bay that combined running and swimming came to fill several hours in the middle of the day, 11.00 to 3.00 p.m.

Staunton was a member of the Canisius College, Pymble, and community in the years 1970-71. His only assignment besides his morning Mass at Lourdes hospital was to follow his medical routine. He said that he had to swim five miles or run two miles each day in order to keep alive. He seems to have done both. On the dot of 6.00 am he would drive out the front gates. After Mass and breakfast, he would go to Balmoral beach area where he spent the day swimming and running. He would return quietly at about 11.00 pm.

In 1972 he was on the staff of St Ignatius, Toowong. In 1973 he was again assigned to Pymble. One night early in February the phone rang at 10.00 pm and he reported that he had had an accident with the car. He declared that he was not returning and that his friends were caring for him. He returned one day to collect his belongings, and except for that no Jesuit in Sydney ever saw him again, nor did anyone know where he was.

Attempts were made to contact him, and it was believed that he was living on the North Coast of New South Wales. When he was finally contacted, he was in a state of senility with not long to live. It was a sad end to a man who had been cheerful, gracious, spotlessly clean, ready with a wise-crack or laugh and a fine pastoral priest. He had lived 30 years in Jesuit communities.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)