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A Mass of Christian Burial for Precious Blood Father Richard Beischel was celebrated April 29 in Valdivia, Chile. Father Beischel, 81, died on April 27.

 A memorial Mass, at which his brother, Precious Blood Father Tom Beischel served as co-celebrant, was celebrated on May 4 at the St. Charles Center in Carthagena. 

Father Beischel was born in 1928 in Cincinnati. He entered the congregation in 1942, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. He served as associate pastor at St. Philomena Church in Detroit; Immaculate Conception Church in Celina; and St. Andrew Church in Orlando, Fla.   

In 1963 Father Beischel volunteered to the Precious Blood community’s mission in Chile. He later worked in a parish in Santiago and at Precious Blood Church in Valdivia, where he became pastor. He also became chancellor and was the business manager of the Diocese of Valdivia. Father Beischel spent more than 20 years serving in ministry in Chile. 

He later became part of the Precious Blood mission in Peru, serving as pastor of San Francisco de Borja Parish in Lima. He was also active with Marriage Encounter as well as involved in the leadership of his congregation. 

In 1995 Father Beischel returned to Chile and was pastor of Christ the King Church in Valdivia until illness forced him to retire. He was the director of the Chilean Vicariate for six years beginning in 2000.

In addition to Father Tom, Father Beischel is survived by two brothers, Jack of Cincinnati, and Mark of Omaha, Neb.; and sisters, Jane Molodetz of Geneva, N.Y., and Sister of Mercy Lucy Beischel of Cincinnati.