Home Obituaries Father Roman Stadtmueller, longtime weekend helper at St. Jude the Apostle in...

Father Roman Stadtmueller, longtime weekend helper at St. Jude the Apostle in Lewes, dies at 95

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Father Roman Stadtmueller

Salvatorian priest Father Roman Stadtmueller (birth name: Harold Joseph), son of Theodore and Elizabeth (Binder) Stadtmueller, died May 10, 2023.

Father Stadtmueller was born in Oshkosh, Wis., on March 27, 1928. He was one of four children in the family. He received his early education at St. Vincent’s School, and went to high school and junior college at Salvatorian Seminary in St. Nazianz, where he became acquainted with the Salvatorians and felt the call to join them. In 1947, he entered the Novitiate in Menominee, Michigan, and he made his profession of vows on September 8, 1948.

He continued his studies at Divine Savior Seminary in Lanham, Maryland, and Catholic University in Washington, DC. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1954. In his first priestly assignment, Fr. Roman taught at Jordan Seminary in Menominee, Michigan. In 1961, he answered the call to work in the missions in Africa and was sent to Tanganyika (now called Tanzania), where he was a missionary and pastor, first in the village of Lukuledi, where he also oversaw the building of a much-needed dam for the village, and then in Nandembo.

He returned to the United States in 1966 and earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin. He then taught for a year at St. Pius X Seminary in Galt, California. However, the pull of Africa remained strong, and Fr. Roman went back to Tanzania in 1968. He was pastor in Makanya, where he helped set up a parish council which became a model for other parishes. In 1975, his left leg was crushed in a bad accident which brought him back to the States for surgery and rehabilitation. While recovering, he served as Assistant Director of Novices, and was an instructor at Notre Dame Academy in the DC area. He returned to Lukuledi in 1979, where he served for three years in the parish and also as acting Vicar General of the diocese, before coming home a final time.

After a pastoral internship, Fr. Roman served as civilian chaplain at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He also managed to pursue a master’s degree in social work from Catholic University, which he put to good use very soon afterward as counselor with Catholic Charities in Georgetown, Del. He helped at St. Jude’s Parish in Lewes from
1989 until retiring in 2006.

Wherever he served, Fr. Roman was known for always being himself, for feeling very comfortable in every social context and making sure that each person’s ideas were heard, and that all people felt respected. Through the years, Fr. Roman remained in relatively good health. Only several hours before his death on May 10, 2023, at the age of 95, he suffered heart failure and was placed in hospice care. He was just a few months away from celebrating his Diamond Jubilee as a Salvatorian.

His funeral will be held Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at St. Pius X Church (2506 N Wauwatosa Ave (N 76th St), Wauwatosa, Wisconsin). Visitation beginning at 10 am with the Funeral Mass at 11 am, followed by a light luncheon. He will be interred in the community cemetery on Loretto Hill, St. Nazianz, WI at 3 pm.
A Memorial Mass will take place at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in Lewes, Delaware, at a later date.