Divine Word Father Joseph Bugner, 89, died May 8 in Techny. He was a missionary in Papua New Guinea for 35 years.

Born on the family farm in Prairie View, Father Bugner descended from immigrants who settled Rogers Park in 1844. One of his forefathers donated the land on which St. Henry Church is built.

A priest for 61 years and in religious vows for 69, he did pastoral ministry for a year in Washington, D.C., before beginning his first overseas assignment in Papua New Guinea.

In 1964, he was assigned to Mount Hagen, where he provided pastoral care for the area’s residents and supervised catechists in Kuli in northeast New Guinea. Father Bugner’s parish served roughly 6,000 Catholics in a 120-square-mile territory in the Wahgi River Valley.

Under Father Bugner’s leadership, schools and community facilities increased. He managed catechists who taught about 300 children in 12 outlying areas. The parish school added two grades, and the government established an additional two schools. Father Bugner also built a medical clinic for Kuli.

Father Bugner had lived in the Divine Word Residence at Techny since 1999.