March 18, 1995

Father Gerald Pathe

Father Pathe was born on August 22, 1915 at Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland but his family moved to Detroit, MI when he was a child. He attended St. Bronood College, St. Bronood, Al; Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, LA; and St. Meinrad Seminary, St. Meinrad, IN before being ordained for the Diocese of Wichita on June 3, 1944 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit, MI. As an assistant he served at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Wichita along with serving as chaplain at the Army Reserve Corps Base in Wichita. After serving as pastor at St. John Parish in Zenda for one year he entered the United States Army as a chaplain from 1950 to 1958 and was stationed in Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Germany. Upon his return to the diocese he was an assistant at St. Patrick Parish in Chanute for one year before becoming pastor at St. Jude Parish in Wichita for one year. His final pastoral assignment was to St. Mark Parish in Marion where he remained for almost thirty years. He retired in 1990 and lived at the Priest Retirement Center and the Catholic Care Center until his death on March 18, 1995. Bishop Gerber was principal celebrant of his funeral Mass at St. Mark Parish in Marion. Father Pathe was buried in the Catholic Section of the Marion Cemetery.