Obituaries: March 2017
Father William Thomas
A Mass of Christian Burial for Father William V. Thomas was celebrated Feb. 17 at St. Henry Church, Dayton. Father Thomas, 83, died Feb. 13.
A Dayton native, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton in 1955. He earned a master’s degree in philosophy in 1961, and a master’s in divinity in 1975, both from the Athenaeum of Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 196, at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, Cincinnati, by Archbishop Karl J. Alter.
Father Thomas received his first appointment on June 11, 1962, as assistant at St. Anthony Church, Dayton. He was appointed assistant at St. John Vianney Church, Cincinnati, and teacher at Archbishop McNicholas High School on Aug. 28, 1962. He was appointed assistant at Our Lord Christ the King Church, Cincinnati, on Sept. 10, 1964, while continuing at McNicholas. He was then appointed temporary assistant at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral on Aug. 25, 1965, and two months later, appointed to return back to Our Lord Christ the King Church as assistant, effective Oct. 25, 1965.
On July 22, 1966, he was appointed chaplain to St. Ursula Villa and in residence at St. Gregory Seminary. On Aug. 14, 1969, Father Thomas was appointed religion coordinator for archdiocesan schools, while continuing part-time teaching at McNicholas. On June 18, 1972, he was appointed vicarius cooperator to St. Monica Church, Cincinnati, for the summer months. On Aug. 22, 1972, Father Thomas was assigned to higher studies in Rome and Oxford, England. On June 20, 1973, he was appointed to St. Mary Church, Cincinnati, and full-time teacher at Marian High School.
Father Thomas was appointed administrator of St. Mary of the Woods Church, Russells Point, effective Jan. 16, 1974. On June 19, 1974, he was appointed chaplain of Mount St. Joseph College, Cincinnati, and associate at Our Lady of Victory Parish, Delhi Township. On Aug. 24, 1982, he was appointed resident associate of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Cincinnati, while continuing his duties at Mount St. Joseph. On Aug. 23, 1984, Father Thomas was appointed resident associate at St. Teresa of Avila Parish, Cincinnati. He was appointed temporary administrator of St. Matthias Church, Forest Park, from May 20 to June 10, 1991 and temporary administrator at St. Aloysius-on-the-Ohio Parish, Cincinnati, effective, Aug. 9, 1993. He was then appointed temporary administrator for St. Lawrence Parish, Cincinnati, from Oct. 26 to Nov. 22, 1993.
Father Thomas was appointed pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, South Charleston, and St. Augustine Parish, Jamestown, for six years, effective Sept. 20, 1995, and re-appointed for another six-year term, effective Sept. 21, 2001. He retired on July 1, 2004. After retirement, Father Thomas served as temporary parochial administrator for Church of the Transfiguration, West Milton, from Feb. 2 to May 3, 2009 and of St. Paul Parish, Englewood, from Jan. 14 to March 30, 2011.
Interment was in Calvary Cemetery, Dayton.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Louis R. Hohlmayer was celebrated Feb. 26 at St. Bernard Church, Springfield. Father Hohlmayer, 89, died Feb. 23.
A Springfield native, he did his preparatory studies at St. Gregory Seminary and studied theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, at St. Monica Cathedral in Cincinnati by Archbishop Karl J. Alter.
He received his first assignment on June 11, 1953 as an assistant pro-tem at St. Mary Church, Urbana, and was also appointed assistant to the chaplain of Mercy Hospital, Urbana. On June 1, 1956, he was appointed assistant at St. Vincent Ferrer, Kenwood, and to teach full-time at Purcell High School, Cincinnati. On Aug. 28, 1962, he was appointed assistant at St. John Church, Deer Park, while continuing to teach at Purcell.
He was appointed assistant at St. Raphael Church, Springfield, and part-time teacher at Springfield Catholic High School, on Aug. 25, 1964. A year later, Father Hohlmayer was appointed to return to St. John Church, Deer Park, as Assistant and to teach at Regina High School, Cincinnati. He was appointed assistant at St. Charles Borromeo Church, Kettering, on June 19, 1969, and assistant at St. Henry Church, Dayton, and chaplain at Kettering Hospital on August 26, 1971.
Father Hohlmayer became administrator of St. Augustine Church, in Cincinnati’s West End, on August 22, 1972, and soon after that, on Dec. 29, 1972, he was appointed pastor. He was then appointed pastor of St. Anthony Church, Dayton, on July 1, 1977, where he remained until 1989. During that time, he was also appointed chaplain of the Knights of Columbus Council 3730. On July 5, 1989, Father Hohlmayer was appointed pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church, Lebanon, He held that position until he retired on Sept. 1, 2001.
Interment was in St. Bernard Cemetery.
Sister Mary Dolorosa Oen
A Mass of Christian Burial for Precious Blood Sister Mary Dolorosa Oen was celebrated Feb. 26 at Salem Heights Chapel in Dayton. Sister Mary Dolorosa, 104, died at the Maria-Joseph Center Feb. 19. She had been a Sister of the Precious Blood for 80 years.
A native of Wapakoneta, Sister Mary Dolorosa was known for her long ministry in the domestic arts, which found her cooking, cleaning and managing the household for seminarians, bishops, archbishops and a cardinal in Norwood and Columbus; Rensselaer, Ind.; and St. Louis.
Interment was in Salem Heights Cemetery.
A Memorial Mass for Marianist Father Francois Rossier was celebrated March 9 at the University of Dayton’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Father Rossier was 59 when he passed away.
Rossier, a former student of Pope Benedict XVI, was born in Fribourg, took his first vows in 1984, and was ordained in 1991. He came to Dayton in 2003, and became executive director of the International Marian Research Institute in 2010. As executive director, Rossier worked to make Mary more accessible worldwide. He supported the efforts of the Marian Library to launch a new version of its All About Mary website. He also sought to expand knowledge of Mary into University of Dayton classrooms.
Father Rossier’s funeral Mass and burial were in his native Switzerland.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Glenmary Brother Terry (baptized James Michael) O’Rourke was celebrated March 16 at St. John Neumann Church, Cincinnati. Brother Terry, 82, died March 10. He was a Glenmary Home Missioner for 58 years.
A native of Chicago, Brother Terry made his first oath with Glenmary on May 21, 1958. While assistant prefect of brothers in Cincinnati from 1961 to 1970, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University. His ministry in Glenmary included working for 15 years on the Brothers’ Building Crew, a collection of Glenmary brothers who did construction work. In 1987, he was elected to the first of two terms as Glenmary’s second vice president. Brother Terry moved to the Glenmary Residence in Cincinnati in 2016.
Brother Terry is survived by his sister, Loretta Coogan, and his brother, Columban Father Robert O’Rouke. Interment was in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
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