Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Father Frank X. Klamet, pastor of St. Benignus Parish in Greenfield and St. Augustine in Jamestown, was found dead at his St. Benignus residence April 19 by parishioners who were concerned when he did not appear for Sunday Mass. He was 57.

Greenfield police have indicated they are awaiting the results of an autopsy, standard procedure for a sudden death occurring outside of a medical facility.

A Mass of Christian Burial was scheduled for April 23, 8 p.m., at McClain High School in Greenfield, with Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk as celebrant. A second Mass will be celebrated April 25, 10 a.m., at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland, the diocese in which Father Klamet was incardinated.

A Cleveland native who was ordained to the priesthood in 1978 following studies at St. Mary Seminary, Father Klamet was an associate pastor in Cleveland and a chaplain at St. Mary and Joseph Home before beginning work as a missionary in El Salvador from 1983-1991.

He earned a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1995, serving his residency at University Hospital of Cleveland, where he also worked as a chaplain. Before coming to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati he worked in a Cleveland clinic.

In addition to his priestly ministry at St. Benignus and St. Augustine, he was a popular physician in the Washington Courthouse area with a specialty in OB/GYN. He delivered many of his parishioners’ children and had privileges at Fayette County Memorial Hospital.

In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati he had served as pastor of St. Benignus since 2003 and St. Augustine since 2004.

Father Klamet is survived by three sisters, Regina Wancate of Middleburg Heights; Catherine Kelley of Cleveland; Margaret Survance of Medina, and three brothers: Thomas, of Seven Hills; James of Westerville and Christopher of Strongsville.