Brother Fidelis Deichelbohrer, MM

Born: July 15, 1910
Oath: February 2, 1933
Died: September 23, 1975

Brother Fidelis (Anthony Henry Deichelbohrer) died Tuesday, September 23 in our Cincinnati residence.

Brother Fidelis was born July 15, 1910 in Winnepeg, Canada, where his family had moved several years previously from Wyandotte, Michigan. The family returned to Wyandotte in 1919 and Brother was enrolled in St. Patrick Parish School. He worked in his  father’s carpentry jobbing shop where he developed a skill which was later to serve the Society in many parts of the world. He was a master cabinet maker.

In 1931 he applied for admission to the Maryknoll Brothers, inspired, he said, by his sister, Sister M. Benedicta of the Maryknoll Sisters.

After his novitiate at Maryknoll he was assigned to the Venard in 1937. It was while at the Venard and later at the Center that he earned the reputation of being a skilled carpenter and a dedicated worker.

In 1948 he received an assignment to East Africa where he remained for some thirteen years. A knee injury incapacitated him for a time but then in 1962 he was assigned to the staff at Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He made a valuable contribution to the maintenance of the College until it closed in 1972.

The Cincinnati Regional Office of our Development Department was his last assignment. During a recent visitation, Brother Fidelis confided to a member of the General Council that he was very happy to be serving the Society and that his prayer life was of extreme importance to him. He had a particular devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and spoke of his love for the Mass.

A wake service was held on Thursday evening, September 25 at 7:30 p. m. The Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated on Friday, September 26 at11:45 a. m. at Maryknoll, New York.