Reverend Wenceslaus Church O.F.M.

Rev. Wenceslaus (Francis Xavier) Church, formerly of Hannibal, peacefully entered eternal life on September 10, 2024, at St. Mary's Home, Chicago, IL. After the Wake and Rite of Christian Burial at St. Peter's Church, Chicago, on September 23, 2024, Fr. Wenceslaus was buried in the Franciscan Friars' plot at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL. Family members from various locales and generations were present.

Fr. Church, or Xie as he was widely known, was born to Ralph and Viola (nee Ryan) Church in Hannibal on October 24, 1929 (coincidentally "Black Thursday", the start of the Great Depression). He was baptized and confirmed at Immaculate Conception Parish of Hannibal. He attended McCooey High School before coming to know the Franciscan Friars as a student at Quincy College, Quincy, where in 1952 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Physical Sciences before adding a Bachelor of Arts in 1956, majoring in Philosophy. His only sibling, Mary V. (Church) Welch, also attended McCooey, as did her future husband of 61 years, Robert J. Welch. After their marriage in 1949, Mary & Bob returned to Hannibal in 1952, and lived in Hannibal until their deaths, raising six sons who all attended Hannibal schools along the way. Xie's first cousins include Sr. Eleanor O'Hearn, CSJ and Helen Snyder. Xie also leaves behind five nephews and their spouses, plus a host of grand- and great-grandnephews and nieces, and other cousins.

Xie was given the name Wenceslaus upon entering the Franciscan order in 1952 and was ordained a Franciscan priest in 1959.

He began his ministry at Corpus Christi High School in Chicago. When the high school closed a year later, Fr. Wenceslaus moved to then-new Hales Franciscan High School. In the late 60's, he moved to St. Peter's Church and Friary in downtown Chicago where he ministered for the next forty+ years as a confessor and offered spiritual direction to the many who sought him out on the mezzanine of the church. His tenure there was interrupted twice, first as administrator of St. Frederick High School in Monroe, LA and second when he served briefly as chaplain of Mayslake Village senior housing project in Oak Brook, IL.

At St. Peter's, he was also faithful to the communal prayer and fraternal life of the Friars until skilled nursing care became necessary, whereupon he moved to St. Mary's Home, operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor, where he spent his last 19 months. There, he passed away peacefully.

Memorial donations in his name may be sent to St. Mary's Home, Chicago https://littlesistersofthepoorchicago.org/ or St. Peter's Church in the Loop, Chicago https://www.stpetersloop.org/.