In Memoriam - Robert Lechner, C.PP.S

Fr. Lechner, Former SJC Faculty Member, Dies

Father Robert Lechner, C.PP.S., former Saint Joseph's College faculty member , passed away at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, OH on February 22 following complications from heart by-pass surgery. He was 82 years of age at the time of his death.

He was ordained a priest on February 2, 1946. Eight months after ordination he was sent to study philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he received his doctorate in 1950. He was assigned to teach philosophy at Saint Joseph's College where he remained until 1961. From there he moved to Saint Charles Seminary to continue teaching until the philosophy program was closed. He then taught at DePaul University in Chicago until his retirement in 1992.

In 1957 he founded Philosophy Today as a journal that would bring the best of contemporary European thought to North America. It grew to be an influential media for Continental thought. In the early years, most of the articles were translated from European journals, but as time went on major figures made original contributions. Although Fr. Lechner published little of his own work, he was known in the philosophical world as a mentor to many young scholars. In 1991, Philosophy Today published a Festschrift in his honor.

That same mentoring capacity marked his relationship with many students. He will be remembered for his care and attention, as well as his interest in their lives and work. Alongside his philosophical work, he was active in many of the renewal movements that began in the Church in the late 1950's. He worked regularly with the Grail movement, the Trappist monks of Gethsemani Abbey, and with many others in the areas of art and spirituality.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. The funeral wake will be held at Saint Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio at 12 noon (EST) on Thursday, February 25. The funeral liturgy will be celebrated on Friday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

St. Joseph College website, www.stjoe.edu, February 23, 1998