60 years
Bishop William Franklin, 86, was ordained Feb. 4, 1956, by Archbishop Leo Binz. Then-Father Franklin did pastoral work and was a teacher and counselor in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in 1987 and installed as bishop of the Diocese of Davenport on Jan. 20, 1994. He retired in 2006.
Father Lou Leonhardt, 86, was ordained June 2, 1956, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport by Bishop Ralph Hayes. Fr. Leonhardt served as assistant at St. Mary-Mechanicsville, St. Mary-Clinton, St. Wenceslaus-Iowa City, St. Mary-Davenport; chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital-Ottumwa and University Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City; temporary administrator at St. Mary-Albia and St. James-Washington; pastor at St. Joseph-East Pleasant Plain, St. Patrick-Clinton, St. Bridget-Nolan Settlement, St. Bernadette-West Branch, St. Joseph-Hills, St. Mary-Nichols and St. Mary-Lone Tree. He later served as administrator and sacramental minister at the Hills, Nichols and Lone Tree parishes.
Msgr. Marvin Mottet, 85, was ordained June 2, 1956, at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop Hayes. Msgr. Mottet served on faculty at St. Ambrose Academy and Assumption High School-Davenport and then as director of social action, rural life, Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) and immigration for the Diocese of Davenport. He was national director of CCHD in Washington, D.C., and served as parochial vicar, then pastor, at Sacred Heart Cathedral-Davenport. He also served as sacramental minister at St. Mary-Davenport in retirement.
50 years
Msgr. Robert Spiegel, 76, was ordained June 4, 1966, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport by Bishop Hayes. Msgr. Spiegel served as assistant at Sacred Heart-Fort Madison; on faculty at Assumption High School-Davenport; chaplain with the United States Army, and as contract priest for the Army.
Father Vitolds Valainis, 76, was ordained June 4, 1966, at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop Hayes. Fr. Valainis served as assistant at St. Mary-Keokuk; associate pastor at St. Mathias-Muscatine; pastor at St. Patrick-Burlington; and sacramental minister at St. Patrick-Iowa City. He currently serves as chaplain at University Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City.
40 years
Father Nick Adam, 65, was ordained May 29, 1976, at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini in Richland by Bishop Gerald O’Keefe. Fr. Adam served as associate pastor at St. Thomas More-Iowa City and St. Patrick-Clinton; administrator at Holy Trinity-Richmond; pastor at Sacred Heart-Kinross, St. Joseph-Wellman, St. Mary of the Visitation-Ottumwa, St. Alphonsus-Mount Pleasant, St. Mary-Grinnell and St. Mary-Fairfield, where he currently serves.
A celebration for Fr. Adam will be held at St. Mary-Fairfield on May 28 after the 5:30 p.m. Mass.
Father Tim Sheedy, 67, was ordained June 12, 1976, at St. Mary of the Visitation in Ottumwa by Bishop O’Keefe. Fr. Sheedy served as associate pastor at St. Paul the Apostle-Davenport and St. John the Baptist-Burlington; principal at St. John Middle School and St. Paul Elementary School-Burlington; interim principal at Holy Family School-Davenport; pastor Assumption-Charlotte, St. Patrick-Villanova, Our Lady of the River-LeClaire, Sacred Heart-Fort Madison; St. Mary-Augusta; Our Lady of Lourdes-Bettendorf and St. Mary-Solon, where he currently serves.
All are invited to celebrate Fr. Sheedy’s jubilee by attending the 10:30 a.m. Mass June 12 at St. Mary Parish.
Father John Spiegel, 66, was ordained June 26, 1976, at St. John the Baptist in Burlington by Bishop O’Keefe. Fr. Spiegel served as associate pastor at Sacred Heart-Fort Madison and Our Lady of Lourdes-Bettendorf; on faculty at Assumption High School-Davenport; and as chaplain at St. Joseph-Mercy Hospital-Clinton. He also served as pastor at St. John-Houghton, St. James-St. Paul, St. Mary Magdalen-Bloomfield, St. Patrick-Ottumwa, St. Mary of the Visitation-Ottumwa (also parochial vicar), St. Mary-Iowa City, St. Mary-Pella, St. Mary-Oskaloosa, where he currently serves, and as priest moderator at Immaculate Conception-Colfax.
Father Robert Busher, 71, was ordained July 17, 1976, at St. Mary-Williamsburg by Bishop O’Keefe. Fr. Busher served as temporary chaplain at University Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City; associate pastor at St. Patrick-Iowa City and St. Mary-Clinton; pastor at St. Joseph-East Pleasant Plain, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini-Richland, St. Thomas More-Iowa City, St. Patrick-Iowa City, St. Mary-Oskaloosa, Sacred Heart Cathedral-Davenport and St. Mary-Wilton, where he currently serves. He also was canonical pastor at Immaculate Conception-Colfax. He retires this summer.
A celebration for Fr. Busher will be held June 19 in the church hall from 2-5 p.m. There will be food, beverages and fellowship. To RSVP, contact Gina Holladay at gina.holladay@kentww.com or call (563) 260-9733.
25 years
Father Timothy Regan, 66, was ordained May 30, 1991, at St. Anthony in Knoxville by Bishop O’Keefe. Fr. Regan served as temporary chaplain at University Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City; parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes-Bettendorf; pastor at Holy Trinity-Keota, Sacred Heart-Lost Nation, St. James-Toronto, Sacred Heart-Oxford Junction; was on special assignment at St. Vincent Center-Davenport; and served as parochial vicar at St. Paul the Apostle-Davenport. He currently serves as chaplain at University Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City.
I am doing research on St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Lithuanian Church in Kewanee, IL. When I first came to Kewanee as a young teacher we would go to mass at St Anthnoy’s one of 4 Catholic churches in Kewanee. A young priest would often come dress in a military uniform. He said he was from Davenport. I would like to know if father Robert Spiegel could have been this priest? The church is now closed and I a writing a history of the church as it was closed in 1982 when Father Bartkus died after being there 50 years and a Lithuanian. Thanks Steve Morrison Kewanee, IL