April 25, 1942

Msgr. Godfrey Birrenbach

Msgr. Birrenbach was born on June 25, 1875 in Cologne, Germany. Following his early education in his hometown, he completed his seminary studies at the American College in Louvain, Belgium. He was ordained at Louvain for the Diocese of Wichita on July 15, 1900. His first assignment was as first resident pastor in Willowdale but was there only for a brief time before he contacted typhoid fever. After spending weeks at St. Francis Hospital, he recovered enough to return to Germany to be treated at a clinic in Bonn. In 1906 he returned to the diocese and served in Dubuque and then at Bushton for 13 years. In 1923 he was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Colwich where he remained until he retired to a house in the same town in 1941. At the time he was assigned to Colwich he was also named Director of the Propagation of the Faith and spent his seemingly boundless energy in raising money for the missions and saving “pagan babies.” “Msgr. Birrenbach never did things by halves. He threw himself into every task with killing energy. He prepared his sermons with zest and preached his sermons with consuming zeal.” (The Advance Register, May 1, 1942) The funeral Mass of Msgr. Birrenbach was celebrated in Colwich by Bishop Winkelmann with sixty priests and an over-flow crowd of parishioners present on April 29, 1942.