Father Wiegand — priest, widower, father, grandfather

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PELLA — Father William Wiegand, who served the Diocese of Davenport as a permanent deacon and later as a priest after the death of his wife, Ruth, died March 7 at age 87.

Fr. Wiegand

Born March 4, 1936 in Illinois to John and Madeline (Hasler) Wiegand, he served in the U.S. Air Force and worked for Sheller Globe in Keokuk; AE Staley in Decatur, Illinois; Pella Corp in Pella; and SHARE Iowa in Oskaloosa. He and Ruth were married June 9, 1956 and had three children. Ruth died in 2001.

Wiegand graduated from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree and in 1994 with a master’s degree. He was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Gerald O’Keefe on June 4, 1988. Then-Deacon Wiegand served at St. Mary Parish in Pella until he began studies for the priesthood at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corner, Wisconsin. On June 4, 2005 he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William Franklin at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.

Father Wiegand served as parochial vicar at Ss. John & Paul Parish in Burlington from 2005-07. He served as administrator, then pastor, at St. Alphonsus Parish in Davenport and St. Peter Parish in Buffalo from 2007-09. He retired from active status in 2009.

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His survivors include his children, Cathryn and John Segur of Rogers, Arkansas; Karen and Wayne Van Walbeek of Monroe, Iowa; and Leroy and Natasha Wiegand of Plymouth, Indiana; five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.


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