Fr. Leonard A. Kistler, C.PP.S., 82, died Monday, June 9, 2014, at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio, where he made his home. He had been in failing health.

He was born April 5, 1932, in Ottawa, Ohio, to Linus and Agnes (Brown) Kistler.

He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1946 at Brunnerdale, the Missionaries’ minor seminary outside of Canton, Ohio, and went on to study at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind. He was ordained on June 10, 1961.

Fr. Kistler served as a pastor in the United States and as a missionary to Peru during his years as a priest.

His first assignment was as assistant pastor of Holy Rosary Church, Dayton. He went to Peru to serve in the C.PP.S. Missions there in 1964, ministering in parishes in La Oroya and Yauli.

He returned to the United States in 1973, when he was named associate pastor of Precious Blood Church in Dayton. From 1978-79, he was a member of the C.PP.S. parish renewal team. In 1979, he was named associate pastor of St. Augustine Church, Minster, Ohio.

Fr. Kistler served at Blessed Sacrament Church in Sharps, Fla., and was appointed pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Winter Garden, Fla., in 1982, the first Missionary of the Precious Blood to serve at that parish. He returned to Ohio in 1989, when he was named assistant pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Cleveland. He ministered at St. Boniface Church, New Riegel, Ohio, and St. Peter Church, Alvada, Ohio, from 1994-2003.

Fr. Kistler retired to St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio, in 2003. He celebrated the golden anniversary of his ordination in 2011.

Fr. Kistler was a studious man with a good sense of humor. He remained close to his large family throughout his life, carefully tracing the family’s roots all the way back to Germany. He was also faithful to the vocation he felt when he was still a schoolboy, said his brother, Charles Kistler. “When he was still in grade school, he rode his bicycle to neighboring towns to talk to the priests there about his vocation,” he said.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Friday, June 13, 2014, at St. Charles Center, with Fr. Larry Hemmelgarn, C.PP.S., presiding. Burial will follow at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Ottawa, Ohio.

Text and photo courtesy of Jean Giesige, Cincinnati Province