May 27, 1979
Father Leonard Torline
Father Torline was born on December 11, 1904 near Spearville, Kansas where he attended grade and high school. He studied for the priesthood at St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s, KS and St. Meinard Seminary, St. Meinard, IN and was ordained for the Diocese of Wichita at St. Mary’s Cathedral by Bishop Schwertner on May 30, 1931. He served as pastor in Dubuque; Walnut and Hiattville; Seward; Florence; Conway Springs; and Moline. In 1963 he became chaplain of St. Margaret Hospital in Fredonia, in 1968 was made pastor at Greenbush, and in 1974 was assigned as chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Independence, KS. The last two years of his life Father Torline was a resident of the Catholic Center for the Aging in Wichita. Bishop Maloney celebrated his funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Wichita. Burial was at St. John Cemetery in Spearville, KS.