Diocesan Priests celebrate jubilees

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By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger

Nine priests of the Diocese of Davenport will celebrate major ordination jubilees this year.

70 years

Father Thomas Stratman, 94, is a native of Burlington where he attended St. Paul Catholic schools. He attended Loras College in Dubuque and graduated from St. Ambrose College in Davenport in 1946. His theology studies were completed at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. On May 6, 1950, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Ralph Hayes at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport. Father Stratman served at St. Joseph Parish-DeWitt, St. Mary Parish-West Burlington, St. Peter Parish-Keokuk, Cardinal Stritch High School-Keokuk, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini-Parish-Richland, St. Mary Parish-Albia, St. Mary of the Visitation Parish-Ottumwa, St. Mary Parish-Eddyville, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf, St. Mary Parish-West Burlington, Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and St. Andrew Parish in Blue Grass. He retired in 1996.

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65 years

Msgr. Francis Henricksen, 91, is a Clinton native and attended Catholic schools there. He graduated from St. Ambrose College and completed his theology studies at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. On June 4, 1955, he was ordained by Bishop Hayes at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He served at St. Mary Parish-Fairfield, Mercy Hospital-Davenport, St. Mary Parish-Davenport, Assump­tion High School-Davenport, St. John Vianney Parish-Bettendorf and at The Catholic Messenger for 35 years. He retired in 1999 as an parish priest and as editor of The Messenger in 2002.

50 years

• Father Stephen Ebel, 75, graduated from Regina High School in Iowa City, St. Ambrose College and did theological studies at Mt. St. Bernard/Aquinas Institute of Theology in Dubuque and St. John Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. On June 6, 1970, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Gerald O’Keefe at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Ebel served at St. Mary Parish-Clinton, Our Lady of Victory Parish-Davenport, Sacred Heart Cathedral-Davenport, St. Mary Parish-Pella, St. Malachy Parish-Ardon, St. Joseph Parish-Columbus Junction, St. Mary Parish-Nichols, St. Mary Parish-Wapello, St. Ann Parish-Long Grove, Our Lady of the River Parish-LeClaire, St. Anthony Parish-Knoxville and Sacred Heart Parish-Melcher. He retired in 2014.

• Father Edward Fitzpatrick, 74, was born in Mount Pleasant and graduated from high school in Burlington. He earned a BS in mathematics from Regis College in Denver, Colorado, and completed theology studies at the North American College in Rome. On Dec. 18, 1970, he was ordained to the priesthood by then-Bishop James Hickey, rector of the North American College, at St. Peter’s Basilica. Father Fitzpatrick served at St. Paul Parish-Burlington, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf, St. Ambrose Seminary-Davenport, director of vocations for the Davenport Diocese, St. Thomas More Parish-Iowa City, St. Peter Parish-Cosgrove, St. Mary Parish-Oxford and St. Mary Parish-Solon and director of the Newman Center-Iowa City. He retired in 2015.

• Father Andrew Kelly, 78, was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and graduated from Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He graduated from Loras College and did this theological studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology-Dubuque and St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Indiana. On June 6, 1970, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop O’Keefe at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Kelly served at St. Mary Parish-Iowa City, St. Anthony Parish-Knoxville, the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary-Ottumwa, Ottumwa Heights College-Ottumwa, St. Mary Parish-Eddyville, Uni­versity of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City, St. Peter Parish-Cosgrove, St. Michael Parish-Holbrook, St. Mary Parish-Clinton, Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace Parish-Clinton, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Keswick, St. Joseph Parish-North English, Mercy Hospital-Iowa City and St. Mary Parish-Mechanicsville. He retired in 2012.

• Father George McDaniel, 78, is a native of Washington and attended schools there. He studied at the University of Iowa and graduated from St. Ambrose College-Davenport with a BA in philosophy/history; attended Mt. St. Bernard Seminary/ Aquinas Institute of Theology-Dubuque; Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and graduated from Aquinas Institute; graduated with an MA in American history from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. On June 6, 1970, he was ordained by Bishop O’Keefe at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father McDaniel served at St. Peter Parish-Keokuk, St. Patrick Parish-Ottumwa and Holy Family Parish-Davenport. He also served as rector and director of spiritual formation at St. Ambrose University Seminary-Davenport, was on faculty at St. Ambrose College, then University, for 33 years, and was chancellor for the Diocese of Davenport. He retired as a parish priest in 2012.

40 years

• Father John “Jack” Gallagher, 77, was born and raised on Staten Island, New York. He worked in accounting on Wall Street in Manhattan, New York, then Walcott, Iowa. He graduated from St. Ambrose College and completed his theology studies at the Pontifical North American College-Rome and his Master of Arts in ecumenical studies from the University of St. Thomas-Rome. He also studied canon law at the University of St. Paul in Ottawa, Canada. He was ordained June 21, 1980, at Our Lady of Victory Parish-Davenport by Bishop O’Keefe. Father Gallagher served at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf, Holy Trinity Parish-Richmond, St. Peter Parish-Cosgrove, St. Michael Parish-Holbrook, Our Lady of the River Parish-LeClaire, St. Patrick Parish-Iowa City, St. Mary Parish-Riverside, St. Mary Parish-Muscatine, St. Mathias Parish-Muscatine, Our Lady of Guadalupe mission-Muscatine, St. Joseph Parish-Columbus Junction, St. Mary Parish-Wilton, St. Anthony Parish-Davenport and St. Andrew Parish-Blue Grass. He also served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force. He retired in 2015.

• Father Rudolph Juarez, 66, was born in Davenport and attended St. Ambrose College, the University of Iowa and St. Mary University in San Antonio, Texas. He studied theology at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio and the University of Notre Dame’s Moreau Seminary. He also did graduate studies at Gregorian University-Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood July 19, 1980, by Bishop O’Keefe at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Juarez served at St. Anthony Parish-Davenport, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf, Our Lady of Guada­lupe Mission-Muscatine, St. Mary Parish-Davenport. He currently serves at St. Patrick Parish-Iowa City, St. Joseph Parish-West Liberty and St. Bernadette Parish-West Branch.

25 years

Father Gary Beckman, 62, is a Burlington native and attended Catholic schools there. He studied at Southeastern Community College in Burlington, followed by Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, and graduated from St. Ambrose University with a degree in criminal justice. After working in law enforcement, he studied theology at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and completed theology studies at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. On June 4, 1995, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William Franklin at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Beckman served at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf, Holy Family Parish-Davenport, Assumption & St. Patrick-Charlotte, Ss. Mary & Joseph Parish-Sugar Creek, St. Joseph Parish-DeWitt, St. John Parish Houghton and St. James Parish-St. Paul. He currently serves at St. Wenceslaus Parish-Iowa City.


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