March 2, 1991
Father Marino Caldarelli
Father Caldarelli was born in Trevi, Italy on September 28, 1908. He was ordained a Capuchin priest on March 29, 1931 in Assisi, Italy and came to the Diocese of Wichita in 1950. He worked mainly in southeast Kansas as an assistant at St. Mary’s Parish, Pittsburg; as a chaplain at St. Joseph Home, El Dorado; as a pastor at Oswego with Chetopa as a mission; as pastor at Franklin with Capaldo as a mission; as pastor at Greenbush; as a chaplain at St. Margaret Hospital in Fredonia; and as a pastor at Erie and South Mound. In 1970 Father Caldarelli went on sick leave in Pittsburgh, PA and died at the Vincentian Home for the Ill on March 2, 1991. His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Pittsburgh and a memorial Mass was celebrated at the cathedral in Wichita. Msgr. Herbert Hertel said of Father Caldarelli, “I always enjoyed his company very much. He had a really terrific sense of humor—very dry.” (The Catholic Advance, Mar. 7, 1991)