Celebrating the life of Fr' Celsus Griese, OFM

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Celebrating the life of Fr. Celsus Griese, OFM
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• From the Cincinnati Enquirer
• submitted by the Franciscan Friars
• GRIESE Fr. Celsus, O.F.M., age 80, Tuesday May
  20, 2008 at Mercy Western Hills Hospital. A
  Franciscan Friar of the Province of St John the
  Baptist for 61 years and a Priest for 53 years.
  He is the son of the late Harry B. Griese, Sr.,
  and Elizabeth (Brackette) Griese Bittner and step
  father, John Bittner. Brother of the late Harry
  B. Griese, Jr. Survived by his sister, Elizabeth
  (George) Glandorf, niece Maureen (Rick) Ruether
  and many cousins. Friends are invited to join the
  friars and family for the reception of the body
  (Prayer Service) Sunday May 25, 2008 at 600 P.M.
  St. Clement Church, 4536 Vine St., St. Bernard,
  OH, followed by visitation till 900 P.M. Mass of
  Christian Burial Monday (Memorial Day) 1000 A.M.
  at St. Clement Church with visitation one hour
  before Mass. Burial on Tuesday 930 A.M. St. Mary
  Cemetery.

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• From the Mining Gazette
• submitted by Eddie Jenich
• Cincinnati, Ohio - Fr. Celsus Griese, O.F.M., 80
  of Cincinnati, passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2008
  in Cincinnati.Fr. Celsus, a Franciscan Friar
  for the Province of St. John the Baptist and
  priest for 53 years, first visited the Copper
  Country 50 years ago when he was a frequent
  summer visitor helping out in Eagle Harbor,
  Copper Harbor and Sacred Heart Church in
  Calumet.His love of the area, the summer
  sunsets over Lake Superior, pasties, his frequent
  return visits and the people were always a fond
  memory in his heart.He will be remembered by
  many people in the area that he touched in his
  visits. His last visit was the summer of
  2006.He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth
  (George) Glandorf a niece, Maureen (Rick)
  Ruether many cousins.A Mass of Christian
  Burial was held at St. Clement Church with burial
  in St. Marys Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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From the Catholic Telegraph Cincinnati,
Ohio - Fr. Celsus Griese, O.F.M., 80 of
Cincinnati, passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in
Cincinnati.Fr. Celsus, a Franciscan Friar for
the Province of St. John the Baptist and priest
for 53 years, first visited the Copper Country 50
years ago when he was a frequent summer visitor
helping out in Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor and
Sacred Heart Church in Calumet.His love of the
area, the summer sunsets over Lake Superior,
pasties, his frequent return visits and the
people were always a fond memory in his
heart.He will be remembered by many people in
the area that he touched in his visits. His last
visit was the summer of 2006.He is survived by
his sister, Elizabeth (George) Glandorf a niece,
Maureen (Rick) Ruether many cousins.A Mass of
Christian Burial was held at St. Clement Church
with burial in St. Marys Cemetery in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
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From John ONeill, RB 68 I am very sorry to
hear of Fr. Celsus's passing.  He was my English
teacher and pastor of Annunciation Parish for
awhile. Probably one of the nicest and funniest
priests there at the time.
From Kevin Wilkerson, RB 72 I send heartfelt
condolences to the family of Father Celsus, and
the Roger Bacon family from the Wilkerson family
of College Hill and Chicago. Having been band
members during our time at RB Tech, Father Celsus
touched our lives and I am certain on reflection,
we are better beings because of it. His spirit
lives on with each of ours and all of ours.
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From Tom Freudiger, RB 65.  Thanks for the
e-mail about Fr. Celsus. I am really sorry to
hear that he is in such bad health. But it sounds
like he has many close friends to comfort him
during these trying times. I am, and will
continue, praying for him. Please give my
condolences to his loved ones.
From Davey Jones, RB 64 Sorry to hear about Fr.
Celsus Griese.  He was my religion teacher one
year and I recall a discussion in one class about
how he chose the name Celsus ... he said that he
had a choice of two names and he chose the better
of the two. At that point, as I recall, Lenny
Meyer 64 stood up and asked, "What was the other
choice ... Axle?"  We had a good laugh.
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From John Goodlow, RB 73 I'm saddened by this
news.  I spent a brief time with the RB band back
in 1970 and had Fr. Celsus for speech class one
year.   I find myself from time to time
speaking to my kids and wife about how we were
punished at Bacon.  While I don't spank my kids
or anything of the such, as recently as this past
weekend I talked about Fr. Celsus at the dinner
table.  I guess unlike today's world, I never
felt unloved when any of the teachers at Bacon
gave me the "board of education" or, as Fr.
Celsus would do, the nice hard one into the
chest.  Painful then and truly a deserved
punishment, it has become a positive memory and
one that I still talk about today. Please feel
free to forward this to Mr. Neal and if possible,
to Fr. Celsus.  I live in Upper Montclair, NJ
near New York City and only get to Cincy on
occasion.  I wish the best for him and hope that
this prognosis is incorrect.  He has left fond
memories of my days at Bacon though at the time,
I knew we all may have thought otherwise. 
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From Paul Terry, RB 75  Thank you for the
update and I will pass it on to my band friends.
He was a wonderful part of our band memories and
comes up often in conversations. He will be
deeply missed. All my prayers, Paul 
From John OKeefe, RB 74 Thank you for sending
me the e-mail about Father.  Monica and I will
miss him very much.  He married us 29 years ago
tomorrow.
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From Jack Esselman, RB 63 Fr. Celsus put the
Roger Bacon Band on the map, when the football
team was getting all of the headlines.
From Walter C, RB I certainly hope everyone in
Heaven speaks proper English or he'll have to
move the island of culture up there with him.
From Dan Westerbeck, RB 62  Sorry to hear of
Fr. Celsus's passing. He was a good guy.
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From Jim Koren, RB 74 Here is my story about
Father Celsus.    Feel free to pass it on.  In
'74 I thought the Speech class would let me slide
through my senior year at Roger Bacon.  But who
should walk in as our teacher!  No other than the
task master of the Band!  The Father with the
iron fist who had driven the band to several
national championships!  Father Celsus.  There
was an undercurrent of fear and loathing as
Father Celsus walked to the front of the class. 
Expletives galore were being muttered and all
were wondering if it was too late to change our
schedules.
Father Celsus introduced himself, looked
surprised that he didn't know any of us and then
began musing about his years at Roger Bacon, the
position with the Band department that he had
relinquished and how this would be his last year
at Roger Bacon.  Then he switched topics to this
class.   He had never taught this class before. 
Should he run it like he ran the Band?  He
thought not. How could we learn speaking in
public if he did all the talking?  No, he thought
he should try a completely different style with
this class. There would be more open discussion. 
Everyone would participate in critiquing our
classmates speeches.  We all left that first
class surprised, wondering if our fears were
unwarranted, or was he setting us up!
I remember three things about Father Celsus and
that class.  First, I had a great time.  Father
Celsus often talked about his life, how he became
a priest, girls and his last kiss on a riverboat
with his high school sweetheart, and life in the
seminary.  He had us all rolling in our seats
with laughter sharing stories about the Band. 
The best story involved traveling with the band,
his custom of sleeping in the buff, and the faces
of students when there was an emergency one night
at the hotel.
The second thing I remember was one speech where
the speaker used a double negative.  Father
Celsus started toward the front of the class
swinging his knotted rope to teach this student a
lesson.  Someone spoke out, directed at the
speaker  He aint got no cooth!   Father
Celsus stopped, turned on a dime and demanded
Who said that?   We all started laughing.  He
stood there for a few moments and then said,
Well you all ruined it for me!  I cant use this
rope now with all this laughter!  He then walked
to the back of the class, told the speaker not to
use double negatives and continue with his
speech.  I dont remember Father Celsus ever
using that rope!
  Lastly, I remember Father Celsus showing up at
one of the parties on graduation night.  I dont
remember what he said, but I do remember how he
struck me as a person who really cared.  I also
knew that he would miss us.  
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From Louis Trauth III, Trauth Dairy I was very
sorry to hear about the passing of Father Celsus
Griese, OFM in the 9 June obituaries. Although
it has been many years, I remember his
contributions to the Enquirers opinion pages as
a voice of straight thinking and frank talk at a
time when even many Catholics were becoming lost
balls in deep rough. Thank heaven for such
intellectual leadership from our priests.
From Jerry Kathleen Greager, OLPHC There are so
many occasions that stand out in our minds. It's
certainly impossible to list them all.  When my
Father died in l996, Father Celsus offered
prayers at the funeral home as well as blessed
the ground at the cemetery, despite the fact he
was on crutches.  That kindness will never be
forgotten.  
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In memory of Father Celsus
His reverence at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
each and every day. His powerful homilies. His
respect and devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament. His joy at winning at bingo and the
lottery. His delight in seeing his twinkling
Christmas tree each year. His giving of himself
totally to our every need.  His excitement for
cooking holiday meals for his family and friends,
of course, using mama's fine china and her
special pan for preparing her special "stuffing"
recipe. His thoughtfulness in note writing. What
a special time it was for us to "discover" OLPHC
and Father Celsus.  We will treasure our memories
always.

• Born April 25, 1928

Died May 20, 2008
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GOOD NIGHT SWEET JESUS
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Special thanks to

• Helen Gartner
• Helen Rothan
• The Roger Bacon Band
• Friends and family that contributed photographs
  and memories