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Recently deceased clergy remembered for Church contributions

Father Robert Jude

Father Robert James Jude is being remembered for spreading joy wherever he went over his lengthy priesthooA priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for 65 years, Father Jude died Dec. 20, 2014. He was 92.

Born March 24, 1922, in Maple Lake, the son of Paul and Margaret (Riordan) Jude, he attended Nazareth Hall and the St. Paul Seminary and was ordained a priest June 4, 1949, by Bishop James J. Byrne at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Father Jude served as associate pastor at St. Joseph in Red Wing, St. Bridget and St. Stephen in Minneapolis, Holy Trinity in St. Louis Park, St. Mary in Tracy and St. Peter in Delano.

He was chaplain at Red Wing Training School and at the Franciscan Sisters Regional Center in St. Paul, and briefly an administrator at St. George in Long Lake.

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He served as pastor at St. Canice in Kilkenny and St. Luke in Clearwater. He retired from active ministry in 1990, but assisted in sacramental ministry at his home parish, St. Timothy in Maple Lake, in retirement.

Father John Meyer, St. Timothy pastor, described Father Jude as “always upbeat” and someone who “made everyone’s day better.

Family member Anna Maria Jude concurred.

“He had amazing joy,” she said. “When he spoke he was so affirming and charitable. He changed the mood everywhere he went — it was just a natural thing for him.

“You knew about the love of God just by being with Father Jude,” she added.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Jan. 5 at St. Timothy in Maple Lake, where Father Jude had presided at his first Mass in 1949.

He has preceded in death by his parents and brothers John (“Jack”) and Clifton. He is survived by many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and cousins.

Interment is in the St. Timothy Cemetery.

Deacon Francis Asenbrenner

The green-jacketed band director and principal who was widely recognized as the personification of Hill-Murray High School, Deacon Francis “Frank” Asenbrenner, died Dec. 31, 2014. He was 81.

Hill-Murray faculty, coaches, students and alums filled Assumption  in St. Paul for his funeral Mass Jan. 5.

Among them was Theresa Goerke, long-time physics and sciences teacher, one of the many teachers Asenbrenner hired during his 30 years as the principal of first Archbishop Murray Memorial High School and soon after, the first principal of the combined Hill-Murray High.

“His enthusiasm was incredible,” Goerke said. “He made everybody feel special. He led the music for the school theater productions, and to begin the performance he always came out to welcome everyone. He made you feel as though they did the production just for you.”

Asenbrenner was born Aug. 27, 1933, in Leopolis, Wis. He graduated from the then College of St. Thomas with a degree in music education, later earning graduate degrees in both music and education administration.

He was principal of Hill-Murray and became chaplain there as well when he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1978, a member of just the second diaconate class of the archdiocese. He served as a deacon at Maternity of the Blessed Virgin in St. Paul, and for a short time was parish life administrator there when the parish was between pastors.

The Asenbrenner family’s parish was St. Rose of Lima in Roseville, where Deacon Asenbrenner was active as a choir director.

Goerke said the man known throughout Hill-Murray as “Mr. A” had high academic standards; music, though, was his passion.

Don Regan, chairman of Premier Banks, sent seven children to Hill-Murray and recalled spending a lot of time with him.

“He was a great people person, just an outstanding individual,” Regan said. “He really looked after his students.”

Deacon Asenbrenner was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Margaret. He is survived by their eight children — Jim Asenbrenner, Mary Zimmer, Jean Liss, Kathy Aziz, Tom Asenbrenner, Sue Eichten, Barb Atkinson and Peg Sutherland — and their spouses and 16 grandchildren.

Interment is in Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville.

Father Charles Froehle

Father Charles Froehle was a role model for the scores of priests ordained from the St. Paul Seminary over the 25 years he served there as professor, dean and rector.

A priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for 51 years, he died Jan. 6. He was 77.

Father Charles Lachowitzer, moderator of the curia and vicar general of the archdiocese, was one of those formed at the seminary during Father Froehle’s tenure as rector. He told The Catholic Spirit about a few of the things he remembered most about Father Froehle.

“Liturgies. He was a great homilist and modeled a prayerful style of celebrating the Mass,” Father Lachowitzer noted. “It was such a significant part of our seminary formation to do Sundays well, and he certainly modeled that.

“He gave us all an inspiring example of what it means to be a good ‘pastor’ as well as a good priest,” he added. “In so many ways, Father Froehle acted as the pastor of the seminary. He was accessible, thoughtful, caring and pragmatic when dealing with a myriad of seminarian and faculty concerns.”

Charles Leo Froehle was born in St. Cloud April 20, 1937, the son of Leo and Catherine Froehle.

Raised in St. Paul, he attended Nazareth Hall, the minor seminary, and the St. Paul Seminary before being ordained a priest Feb. 2, 1963, at the Cathedral of St. Paul by Archbishop Leo Byrne.

He served as associate pastor at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis for two years before beginning studies in Rome. He earned a licentiate and a doctorate in theology from the Angelicum and returned to the St. Paul Seminary where he served as professor of sacramental theology, and later as dean of studies and vice rector.

In 1980 he was appointed rector of the St. Paul Seminary.

As rector, Father Froehle was one of the major architects of the seminary’s affiliation with the University of St. Thomas, which provided financial security for the seminary in exchange for seminary land, which the growing university needed.

In 1994, Father Froehle was named pastor of St. Francis Xavier parish in Buffalo, and later pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. He retired from active ministry in 2012.

Father Froehle is survived by his brother John and sisters Margaret Cournoyer and Jean Froehle, along with many nieces and nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great grandnieces and great grandnephews.

A funeral Mass was offered Jan. 13 at St. Mary’s Chapel at the St. Paul Seminary with internment in Resurrection Cemetery.

 


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