The History of Grand Rapids Vocations
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October 4, 2022We regret that some extraordinary confreres from St. Alphonsus Parish in Grand Rapids were missing from the lengthy list of vocations published last week.
We missed one of the first two vocations ordained from the parish, Fr. Bernard Connelly. He and his classmate, Fr. Richard Dalton, were ordained in 1923. We incorrectly included Creston Smith, but missed Cyril Schmitt. The vocations of three deceased diocesan priests – Fr. Edmund Corby, Fr. Walter Grill and Fr. Joseph Fix – also were nurtured in the parish.
We missed Fr. Charles (Chuck) Bueche (above, left) and his nephew, Fr. Bill Bueche (right), descendants of Clarence Bueche, a charter member of St. Alphonsus Parish in 1888. Fr. Chuck professed vows in 1948 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1953. After serving in parish ministry and as novice master in Thailand for nearly two decades, he returned to the United States. He served at parishes in Chicago, Denver and Wichita, and promoted Liguorian Magazine before his death in 2017.
Fr. Bill professed vows in 1973 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1978. He earned a doctorate in Moral Theology, specializing in the area of bioethics, at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome in 1986. He joined the faculty and taught bioethics classes for the next 10 years.When he returned to the United States, he was appointed pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, a multicultural parish in Chicago. In 2005, he was assigned at St. Alphonsus Parish in Minneapolis to work primarily with Spanish-speaking immigrants, and he built a large Latino ministry in the parish. He was appointed pastor at Holy Ghost Parish in Houston in 2015, his current assignment.
Br. Leo Patin was pleased with the response received from his ROOTS information, and welcomes additional contributions.
