John Harold Gerlach, O.P., Death, 2013-11-21

Series

Identifier: PF - Gerlach

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection contains personal materials relating to friars after they have left the order, passed away, or transferred to another province. Each friar's file contents are mostly limited to their novitiate records, canonical assignments, historically important correspondence, and a small number of personal items if desired upon their passing. Within the broader collection, each Friar is sorted as a series.

Friars with particuarly substantial historically important papers or items outside of the scope of the Personal Files are placed within a dedicated collection under their name.

This collection is a work in progress and any use of these files requires the explicit permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist to discuss access or inquire about friars that may not been cataloged yet.

Dates

Creation: Death, 2013-11-21

Conditions Governing Access

Requires explicit permission from Provincial to access any records. Contact the Archivist for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Can only be accessed upon written permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist for further details.

Obituary

John Gerlach was born (Harold William Gerlach) on February 2, 1937, to Harold and Anna (Low) Gerlach in Sioux City, Iowa, where he attended St. Boniface parochial school. He graduated from Heelan High School in 1954, then studied for two years at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa before entering the Dominicans, Province of St. Albert the Great and given the religious name, John Baptist. He made his first profession in the Dominican Order on August 31, 1957 at St. Peter Martyr Priory in Winona, Minnesota. Father Gerlach continued studies at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois and Aquinas Institute at St. Rose of Lima Priory in Dubuque, Iowa before he was ordained to the priesthood there on April 15, 1963.

In his first Dominican ministry, Fr. Gerlach was assigned to the faculty at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois in 1964. For almost 30 years, he served as Chaplain for the Dominican Sisters, from 1967-69, 1980-83, and from 2001-13 in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin and from 1990-2001 in Springfield, Illinois. He also served the Dominican Province of St. Albert

the Great as Vicar Provincial from 1985-1990 and as Novice Master from 1969-74. In the 1970s, Fr. Gerlach led campus ministry at South Dakota State University, worked in preaching ministry in Oak Park, Illinois and was associate pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Madison, Wisconsin.

On November 21, 2013, Fr. Gerlach died at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa after suffering a heart attack earlier in the week. A Mass of Christian Burial and wake was held at Queen of the Rosary Chapel, Dominican Motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin on November 26 & 27, 2013. Office of the Dead and a Mass of Christian Burial was also held in at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in River Forest, Illinois on December 2, 2013. Burial was at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois. Fr. Gerlach was survived by his brother Howard {Carole) Gerlach, and sisters, Estelle Gerlach, and Jean (Daniel) Raih and their immediate and extended families.