Name: Winterhalter, Herbert Francis
Born: 12/03/1896
Place Born: Bedford, Indiana
Ordained: 05/25/1920
Place Ordained: St. Meinrad, Indiana
Years of Service: 1920-1967
Died: 06/24/ 1981
Place Died: Evansville, Indiana
Burial Info: Terre Haute, Calvary Cemetery, Priests Circle, 27 June 1981
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From the Indiana Memory:
Monsignor Herbert Winterhalter A native of Bedford, Ind., he was born Dec. 4, 1896, the son of Joseph and Sophia (Heitger) Winterhalter. After attending St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School at Bedford, Herbert matriculated to St. Meinrad Seminary in 1911. He graduated and was ordained a Catholic priest by Bishop Joseph Chatrand on May 25, 1920. Appointed assistant rector at Holy Trinity Church in Evansville on July 20, 1920, Father Winterhalter resided there six years. His responsibilities included raising funds to renovate suburban mission churches and build adjoining rectories in Newburgh and Boonville as well as a school at Newburgh.
In 1926 he became the first resident priest at Boonville, the Warrick County seat. Extremely active in community affairs, he was a member of the Charity Board of Boonville; the Boonville Recreation Board; the American Red Cross; Boy Scouts of America, where he headed the Court of Honor; and the Kiwanis Club, where he was identified with aiding underprivileged and crippled children. Before being transferred
to Terre Haute as pastor of St. Margaret Mary’s Church, Winterhalter was responsible for housing and feeding more than 400 victims of the horrendous 1937 Ohio River flood at the Boonville Community House. As soon as Father Winterhalter relocated to Terre Haute in early 1938, he was invited to participate in significant civic activities, joining the Kiwanis Club of Terre Haute and the Civil Defense Council and heading a successful membership drive for the local Red Cross chapter. He also was vital in the
fund drive to establish the local United Services Organization (USO) headquarters soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Father Winterhalter’s guidance, St. Margaret Mary’s flourished. The church and the rectory were remodeled and a convent was acquired. In 1950 the Very Reverend Winterhalter was named pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, where he headed the drive to construct Paul Schulte High School and, later, the new St. Patrick’s Church, rectory and convent at 19th and Poplar streets. The new church was dedicated on Sunday, Feb. 5, 1956, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the parish. As enrollment increased, it was necessary to add new classrooms and a cafeteria. An ardent sportsman and sports fan, Winterhalter was appointed monsignor in 1954. Head of the Terre Haute Deanery, he served as consultant to the Diocese of Indianapolis until his retirement in 1968. He remained at St. Patrick’s as pastor emeritus until 1975, when he relocated to St. John’s Home for the Aged in Evansville. He died there on June 24, 1981, at age 84. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in Terre Haute.For more than 30 years Monsignor Herbert Winterhalter provided extraordinary civic and ecclesiastical leadership.
https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/vchs/id/650
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