Father Edward L. Krumpelmann, MM

Born: January 30, 1909
Ordained: June 22, 1941
Died: June 23, 1975

Father Edward Leo Krumpelmann died at 2 a. m. Monday June 23 in Hennepin General Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had returned to the U.S. from Hong Kong on March 31 as a result of a worsening illness. He had been recovering, had traveled to California in May, and hoped to return shortly to Hong Kong.

Father Krumpelmann was born on January 30, 1909 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from St. Thomas Military Academy in St. Paul in 1926, and studied at the University of Minnesota for three years starting in 1927, interrupting his studies for periods of work. He studied at the Nazareth Hall Seminary beginning in January 1931, entered Maryknoll August 1, 1934, and studied at The Venard, Bedford, and Maryknoll Seminary until his ordination on June 22, 1941. He left for Kongmoon in September 1941, was in China throughout the War, but had to return to the U. S. because of a tuberculosis condition in April 1947. In April 1948, he was appointed Assistant Econome at Maryknoll. He served as Vice Rector at Mountain View from 1949-1958 and Director of Brothers at Mountain View as of January 1950. In August 1958, he was assigned to the Formosa Region (Hong Kong).

Father Krumpelmann was active and much enjoyed his work as Auxiliary Chaplain in the Servicemen’s Guides Association in Hong Kong from 1964 until this year. Reports from his years in China and Hong Kong describe him as “zealous, a very generous soul, the Chinese take to him readily, he is so sociable”, and as a “hard and dependable worker.”

A wake was held, and a funeral Mass was celebrated in Saint Paul on Wednesday, June 25. Father Krumpelmann’s body arrived at Maryknoll in the late evening of June 25, and Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated in the Maryknoll Chapel at 11 a. m. on Thursday, June 26. Burial followed in the Maryknoll Cemetery.