Reverend Donald H. Fado, (’58)
The following obituary was originally Published by Michelle Johnson on August 08, 2025, in Hoodline and can be found here.
Rev. Don Fado, the United Methodist minister who captivated national attention by blessing a lesbian couple’s union with 95 fellow clergy at the Sacramento Convention Center in 1999, has died at age 91. The pioneering advocate for LGBTQ rights and homeless services passed away at his Sacramento home on July 17, just two weeks after delivering his final sermon.
The 1999 ceremony that thrust Fado into the spotlight marked one of the most significant acts of religious civil disobedience in modern American Methodist history. According to Legacy, The Sacramento Bee, Don convened 95 active and retired United Methodist Church pastors to bless the holy union of two lesbian parishioners before 1,500 people. According to PBS Frontline, Fado called the service an “act of ecclesiastical disobedience,” directly challenging the denomination’s 1996 ban on same-sex union ceremonies.
Born in 1933 and raised in Redding, California, Don earned his bachelor’s degree at College of the Pacific, where he served as student body president and met Jean, a college opera star who would become his wife of 69 years. According to The Sacramento Bee, he followed a call into ministry, earning a master’s degree in divinity at Boston University School of Theology, known for its focus on social activism.
Don began his service with the California-Nevada Conference in 1956, pastoring churches in Fresno, Hanford, Burlingame, and Sacramento until his retirement in 2001. But retirement marked the beginning of his deepest community activism. He helped establish Family Promise of Sacramento, aimed at keeping unhoused families together, and served as a board member at Sacramento Loaves and Fishes.
Family Promise of Sacramento continues Fado’s mission of family preservation, partnering with area churches to provide housing while families work toward independence. In 2023, twenty-two families completed their program while thousands received assistance with referrals and rental support.
Don was considered one of the finest preachers in the United Methodist Church, often speaking without notes and with what The Sacramento Bee described as “an expansive view of God’s love that came alive in his sermons.” Even in retirement, he remained a frequent guest preacher, delivering his final sermon less than two weeks before his death.
He is survived by Jean and four children, Sue Addington of Sacramento, Donna Fado Ivery of Richmond, Patty Fado of Sacramento, and David Fado of Arlington, Virginia, along with 11 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, two sisters, and countless friends and congregants. Rev. Don Fado’s legacy lives on in the institutions he helped create and the thousands of lives he touched through his radical vision of inclusive faith.