Father Jerry Fenton, who was ordained in 2000 at 62 years old, died Nov. 17. He was 73.

He was born Feb. 18, 1938, into a Baptist family. Father Fenton earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1960, a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1964 and a law degree from Harvard in 1967.

Before his ordination in 2000, he told The Catholic Spirit that in the 1980s he had a faith crisis that prompted him to read spiritual books, which drew him toward the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Father Fenton left his law practice in 1987 and spent three years working for Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala. He joined the Catholic Church in 1992 and began to discern a call to the priesthood. He entered the St. Paul Seminary in 1996.

After his ordination, Father Fenton served at St. Pius X in White Bear Lake and then at Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. He retired from active ministry June 15, 2006.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Nov. 23 at St. Pius X, with interment at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights.