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Rosaries were in big demand, and Msgr. Petsch vividly remembers an incident involving the head chaplain at Eglin, a Jewish rabbi. “He came out with some rosaries one morning,” recalled Msgr. Petsch, “and they crowded him so badly, he had to crawl on top of his car and holler for help — that’s how badly they wanted those rosaries!”
The road to Campo Libertad and his work as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of San Antonio began for Msgr. Petsch in his Hill Country home near Fredericksburg. Born in 1923, he was the youngest of four boys in a German-speaking family. His father had a blacksmith shop in nearby Luckenbach for a number of years.
The thought of pursuing a religious vocation came to the future monsignor as a youngster during the years that marked the Great Depression. “What really struck me was when I heard a sermon on serving other people,” he said. “It was right after that when I gave a few people who were panhandlers — people on the road — something to eat, and it just struck me about serving people.” Serving in the priesthood was the logical step that followed.
Perhaps influencing him as well was the example of his uncle, Father Armand Weber, whose last pastoral assignment was in New Braunfels. (Sister Rita Louise Petsch, CDP, also from Fredericksburg, is Msgr. Petsch’s first cousin.)
At the age of 16 he entered St. John’s Seminary, having postponed this for two years in order to help his father, who had health problems at the time, on the family farm. At St. John’s he was to become part of the notable seminarian class of 1950, which included Msgr. Albert Hubertus and Msgr. Balthasar “Balty” Janacek (both still in the Archdiocese of San Antonio) and Msgr. Micahel O’Shaughnessy, Msgr. Michael Harrold, Msgr. Gino Bernasconi and Msgr. Arnold Anders, all of whom later stayed with Victoria when it became a diocese.
Fluent in Spanish, Msgr. Petsch’s first years as a priest were spent as associate pastor in the West Side San Antonio parishes of Sacred Heart and St. Philip’s. Next came Kerrville, where he served as associate pastor at Notre Dame Church, as well as chaplain of the Veterans Administration Hospital and the state tuberculosis and mental hospitals.
He became a chaplain in the Reserves early on, in 1954, when the Army National Guard asked then Archbishop Robert Lucey for two Spanish-speaking priests who could serve as chaplains. Taking on this assignment were Msgr. Thomas Lyssy and Msgr. Petsch, who remained an Army National Guard chaplain for nine years.
In 1961 he became the founding pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, in the vicinity of Lackland A.F.B., which led to another change in his life in 1963. “Most of my parishioners were Air Force,” noted Msgr. Petsch. “They told me there was an opening at Kelly A.F.B. in the Reserves, and they convinced me to go ahead and switch from the Army to the Air Force.”
In addition to Kelly A.F.B., Lackland A.F.B. and Wilford Hall Medical Center locally, his military assignments included Ellington A.F.B. in Houston and Bergstrom A.F.B. in Austin. From 1972 to 1979 he was also pastor of Our Lady of Victory Church (now a cathedral) in Victoria.
Responding to a request by the United States Air Force, Msgr. Petsch resigned from parish work in 1979 to accept special tours of active duty in the Air Force that took him to Iceland, England, the Aleutian Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, Wake Island, Korea ? and the memorable Cuban refugee camp in Florida. In 1981, he was honored in Washington, D.C. as Military Chaplain of the Year by the Reserve Officers’ Association in 1981.
Following his retirement from the Air Force Reserves in 1987, Msgr. Petsch became pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Comfort, where he was also chaplain for the fire department. He retired from parish work in 1999 and has resided for the past five years at Casa de Padres in Leon Springs, the San Antonio Archdiocese’s home for retired priests.
Here, retired diocesan priests (currently 12 live in duplex apartments in a tranquil, country setting, paying nominal rent, thanks to an endowment fund augmented annually by donations. A central building houses a community dining room, living room and chapel, and there is also a recreation area, including a putting green and water therapy room.
An abundance of native wildlife provides continual diversion. “I have about a dozen deer come over every night for corn,” says Msgr. Petsch. Raccoons, opossums, and even foxes also put in regular appearances. “I call this place ‘Paradise Lost,’” he quipped.
The priests gather in the morning for prayer and 8 a.m. Mass, followed by breakfast together and, later, lunch in the central dining room. “Then, in the evening, we’re on our own,” said Msgr. Petsch. The newest resident at Casa de Padres is Archbishop Emeritus Patrick F. Flores, referred to affectionately as “just another one of the boys.”
Like many of the retired priests who are physically able, Msgr. Petsch still assists in parish ministry and, the day of this interview, was preparing to hear confessions at an ACTS retreat at Camp Tecaboca. He has previously filled in when needed at nearby Korean Martyrs Church in Leon Springs and at St. Francis Xavier in Stonewall.
“I’m very, very grateful,” concluded Msgr. Petsch, “grateful for the priesthood and grateful for my retirement here with the other priests.”
Catholics of the San Antonio Archdiocese can show their gratitude for the years of service given by Msgr. Petsch and the other retired priests of the archdiocese, by contributing to the special collection taken up for them at all Masses June 4 - 5.
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