December 6, 1918

Father Ernst B. Hoellger

Father Hoellger was born in Schakehaven, East Prussia on November 5, 1887. He studied for the priesthood in Meran, Tyrol; Brixen, Tyrol; and St. Meinrad, IN. Bishop Joseph Chartrand, Bishop of Indianapolis, ordained him for the Diocese of Wichita on April 23, 1918. His only and brief assignment was to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita during the flu epidemic of 1918 where he died on December 6, 1918 at 31 years of age. Msgr. Schmiehausen celebrated his funeral Mass at St. Francis Hospital Chapel.