Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg observes 65th Jubilee of Priesthood; Public invited to celebration this Sunday

Msgr. Edward Lechtenberg observed his 65th Jubilee of Priesthood May 3, having been ordained a Catholic priest May 3, 1951. The Holy Family of the Bluffs Catholic community invites the public to join Msgr. Lechtenberg in celebration of 65 years as a Catholic priest this Sunday, May 15 at the 10 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Lansing. A reception and brunch will follow the Mass in the church hall.

Ed Lechtenberg was born September 17, 1926 in Lansing to Joseph and Mary (Foley) Lechtenberg. Following high school graduation, he strongly considered joining the U.S. Navy, but under the guiding influence of an associate pastor in his family's home church in Lansing, Father Breitbach, instead, enrolled at Loras College in Dubuque and went on to the Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, MO to continue his theological studies.

Lechtenberg was ordained May 3, 1951 at Christ the King Chapel at Loras College. He then went on to be Associate Pastor at St. Boniface in Garner from 1951-1952, followed by a similar role at St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque from 1952-1957. While there, he taught and coached at St. Mary’s while also administering at St. Peter Claver Parish, both in Waterloo. He then served as Associate Pastor at St. Mary’s in Marshalltown in 1962 and St. Joseph's in Stone City and St. Isidore’s in Springville from 1962-1965. He also served as chaplain at the men’s reformatory in Anamosa.

His first pastor assignment came in 1965 at St. Patrick’s in Buffalo Center and Sacred Heart in Woden from 1965-1970. From 1970-1974 he served as pastor of Sacred Heart in Eagle Grove, followed by a move to St. Benedict’s in Decorah from 1974-1986. Soon after, he became the pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Waukon as well as the neighboring parishes of St. John’s, West Ridge and St. Mary’s, Lycurgus before he retired July 11, 2000, but not before being bestowed with the gracious honor of Monsignor in the early 1990s.

He continues to serve area parishes when needed, as he makes his home in his native Lansing.