Fr. George Albers, CPPS, 97, died on Thursday, November 15, 2012, in the infirmary at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio.
He was born on January 11, 1915, in Cincinnati, to Lawrence and Gertrude (Ungehauer) Albers. The priesthood was a second career for him; earlier in life he was a talented and well-respected architect. In his work with Ed Schulte and Associates of Cincinnati, he designed churches and cathedrals all over the country, including work on St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati.
After caring for his mother until her death, he entered religious formation in 1954 and was ordained on June 9, 1962 in Carthagena. He celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination in June 2012.
Fr. Albers was active in parish and school ministry during his years as a priest. He was also a hospital chaplain for many years.
After his ordination he ministered at St. Joseph, Hamilton, Ohio; Holy Angels, Dayton; Holy Rosary, St. Marys, Ohio; Sacred Heart, Sedalia, Mo.; St. Augustine, Rensselaer, Ind.; Precious Blood, Fort Wayne, Ind.; and St. Joseph, Dayton. He was also an instructor at Julienne High School in Dayton and Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer.
In 1972, he was named a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. He also served at Timken Mercy Hospital in Canton, Ohio. He returned to parish ministry in 1978 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish (now Our Lady, Queen of Peace) in Cleveland. He remained in residence there after his retirement in 1982, during which Fr. Albers, a skilled woodworker, helped his brother, Lawrence, in a clock repair shop. Fr. Albers moved to St. Charles Center in 2000.
Fr. Albers was a deeply spiritual person. Even late in life, he rose well before dawn to begin his daily prayers. He urged people to turn to God with all their struggles. “If we turn to God, we’ll find he is anxious to help,” he once said. “After all, he’s often the only one who can do anything about it. There’s a simple prayer that I tell people to pray when they’re experiencing problems, and that’s ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.’”
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at Monday, November 19 at 2 p.m. at St. Charles Center with Fr. Larry Hemmelgarn, C.PP.S., presiding. Fr. John Hoying will be the homilist. Burial will follow in the Community cemetery.
Text and photo courtesy of Jean Giesige, Cincinnati Province