Fr. Thomas G. Langenfeld CSV

Rev. Thomas G. Langenfeld, CSV, passed away October 1, 2011 from complications sustained after a fall. He was 79.

He was the first American elected as Superior General of the Clerics of St. Viator, later serving as pastor of St. Viator Church in Las Vegas and assisting the Las Vegas Diocese in ministry at Guardian Angel Cathedral. Fr. Langenfeld was born on August 13, 1932 in Springfield, Ill, one of 11 children born to Clifford and Bessie Newman Langenfeld. He attended Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield where he was taught by Viatorians. Fr. Langenfeld eventually joined the Clerics of St. Viator, professing his first vows on August 15, 1951. He was ordained a priest on May 28, 1960 in Joliet, Ill. Fr. Langenfeld began his ministry as an educator, teaching at Spalding Institute in Peoria, Ill and at the Viatorian Seminary. He served as assistant principal at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Ill and as principal at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Ill. During the 1972 Viatorian General Chapter held in Rome, Fr. Langenfeld was elected as Superior General of the Congregation of the Clerics of St. Viator. He was the first American to serve as leader of this international religious order which consisted of 1,453 brothers and priests. He eventually served two consecutive sixyear terms, until 1984. When he returned to the U.S., Fr. Langenfeld directed the Viatorian formation program in Chicago before working in parish ministry serving as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church and then as pastor at St. Patrick Church, both in Kankakee, Ill. Fr. Langenfeld was named to serve as pastor of St. Viator Church in Las Vegas from 1994 to 1999 before serving the Las Vegas Diocese as director of clergy formation and in part time ministry at Guardian Angel Cathedral. When he retired in 2002, Fr. Langenfeld remained in the Las Vegas area, celebrating Mass on weekends at Guardian Angel Cathedral.

He is survived by eight brothers and sisters: Richard, of Dixon, Ill, Gary, of St. Louis, Mo., Mark, of Normal, Ill Michael, of Springfield, Ill Clifford, of Garden Grove, Cali, Catherine Van Den Bossche, of Springfield, Ill, Rose Marie Weymouth, of Island Lake, Ill, and Theresa Ulrich of Zanesville, Ohio.

Visitation for Fr. Langenfeld will be Wednesday, October 5, at 10 a.m. followed by memorial Mass, both at St. Viator Church in Las Vegas. Interment will be at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Ill. Info. 815.932.1214

Visitation

St. Viator Catholic Church
4150 S. Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV  89119
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
10:00 A.M.

Service

Mass of Resurrection

St. Viator Catholic Church
4150 S. Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV  89119
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
11:00 A.M.

Mass of Christian Burial

St. Patrick Church
428 South Indiana Avenue
Kankakee, IL  60901
Saturday, October 8, 2011
10:00 A.M.

Cemetery

Queen of Heaven Cemetery
1400 South Wolf Road
Hillside, IL  60126