Fr. Richard Colbert, C.PP.S. of the Kansas City Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, died on May 20, 2021 in an automobile accident in Hardin County, Ohio. He was a resident at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio. He was 79 years old.

Fr. Richard was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 1, 1942 to Richard and Nora (Lavelle) Colbert. He entered formation with the Society of the Precious Blood at Brunnerdale Seminary in Canton, Ohio in 1956, he was definitive incorporated in August 15, 1965. He was ordained to the priesthood at St. Charles Seminary on May 10, 1969.

Fr. Richard’s first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Linton, North Dakota from 1969-1971. He then became director of vocations for the Kansas City Province, where he served for five years. From 1976-77, he was acting theologate director for Precious Blood Seminarians at St. John’s Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. Fr. Richard then served as associate pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Sedalia, Missouri for two years.

In 1979, Fr. Richard began three years of graduate studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, earning an M.P.S. degree in family counseling, and an M.A. in marital counseling.

Fr. Richard was then appointed associate pastor at St. Mary’s Church, Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he also served as chaplain of St. Mary’s hospital. In 1984, he was interim pastor at St. Catherine Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a short time before beginning a year of training to be a hospital chaplain supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. From 1985 to 1988, Fr. Richard served as chaplain at Fr. Flanagan’s Boy’s Home, Boys Town, Nebraska.

Fr. Richard then served as pastor in a number of parishes in Missouri, including St. Joseph Parish in Pilot Grove from 1988-1992, St. Patrick’s Parish in Sedalia from 1992-1995, St. Joseph Parish in Fayette from 1995-1999, and St. Ann’s Parish in Warsaw from 1999-2005. Fr. Richard then entered semi-retirement, serving as sacramental minister at St. James Parish and chaplain at Our Lady of Mercy Country Home, both in Liberty, Missouri. Fr. Richard fully retired from active ministry in 2018 and moved to St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio, where he continued to serve the community by providing transportation to members who were not able to drive.

In addition to his dedicated service to the community, Fr. Richard will probably best be remembered for his gregarious personality and his convivial nature. He probably never met a person with whom he couldn’t strike up a conversation.

A funeral  mass was celebrated at Assumption Chapel at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio on Wednesday, May 26. The V. Rev. Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S. Director of the Kansas City Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, presided. Fr. Kenneth Pleiman, C.PP.S. was the homilist.