Father George H. Bauer, MM

Born: March 8, 1896
Ordained: May 31, 1925
Died: February 23, 1973

Father George H. Bauer was born in Penzburg, Bavaria on March 8, 1896. He received his early education in the public schools there and came to the United States as a young man.

Entering Maryknoll in 1919, he studied at the Venard and at Maryknoll. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 31, 1925 and assigned to Kongmoon in November of that year.

Interned by the Japanese, he returned on the Gripsholm in 1942. During the war years he worked in a parish in New Orleans and in the Japanese Mission in Los Angeles. From 1946 to 1951 he was again in South China but was dispossessed from the mission property at the end of 1950 and expelled by the Communists in March, 1951. From 1951 to 1967 he did a variety of work at the Houston house, at Maryknoll, in parishes and as a chaplain at Los Angeles, Salisbury, Rd., Lakewood, N.J. and in Williamsport, Pa. He retired to the Venard in 1967-8 and was one of the first residents of St. Teresa’s in 1968.

During his years in China, Father Bauer was described as a good priest and a zealous missioner. His final year in China was especially difficult. At the conclusion of a report he wrote about the sufferings he, other Maryknollers, and the Christian Chinese, he wrote: “I’ve never stopped praying for those we left behind in China.”

A man of conservative principles, he was deeply concerned to the end of his life for the future of the Society and for the maintenance of its traditions.

Father Bauer died at St. Teresa’s on February 23, 1973. The funeral Mass was held in the seminary chapel on February 27 and burial was at Maryknoll.