October 16, 2003
Archbishop Ignatius J. Strecker
Archbishop Strecker was born on Nov. 23, 1917 near Spearville, KS and attended Maur Hill High School and St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, KS and Kenrick Seminary Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Bishop Christian Winkelmann ordained him for the Diocese of Wichita at St. John’s Chapel, Wichita, on Dec. 19, 1942. He served as an assistant pastor in Derby and St. Mary’s Parish in Newton. From 1944-1945 he attended Catholic University in Washington, DC to study Canon Law. In 1945 he was appointed assistant chancellor, in 1948 he was appointed chancellor, and in 1949 he was named a monsignor. Pope John XXIII appointed him the bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau on Apr. 11, 1962 and he was consecrated as bishop at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Wichita on June 20, 1962. Bishop Strecker was named ordinary of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas on Sept. 10, 1969 and retired on Sept. 8, 1993. During his retirement years he wrote a book called “The Church in Kansas” covering the years 1850 to 1905. He died on Oct. 16, 2003 following complications caused from a broken hip. Archbishop Strecker was buried from the Cathedral of St. Peter in Kansas City, KS on Oct. 21, 2003 with Archbishop James Keleher as principal celebrant and Bishop Eugene Gerber as homilist. Bishop Strecker was interred in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas.