HIGH POINT — Father Conrad Charles Hoover, known for his gentle counsel, eclectic life and devotion to people, died Jan. 7, 2022, at Pennybyrn at Maryfield. He was 85.
A funeral Mass will be offered by Bishop Peter J. Jugis at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte. The Mass will be livestreamed by the parish: https://boxcast.tv/view/funeral-mass-of-father-conrad-hoover-wgp7eh4s70tztjdv8l0o
He was born Aug. 7, 1936, in Takoma Park, Md., the son of Hiram Charles Hoover, a district manager for Social Security, and Dorothy Culbreth Hoover. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1958, and a master’s degree in ministry from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He later earned a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America.
A Presbyterian minister who also considered becoming a monk, led silent retreats and ran a bookstore at an ecumenical church, Father Hoover converted to Catholicism and was ordained to the priesthood on May 6, 1989, by Bishop William McManus at The Oratory in Rock Hill, S.C.
In the early 1990s, Father Hoover ministered to people with HIV and AIDS, and served as a hospital chaplain and airport chaplain. In his early years, he wrote for Sojourners Magazine, a national publication devoted to racial, social and environmental justice. Known for his love of reading and music, friends say Hoover’s rich tenor voice had perfect pitch. He once remarked, “I always have music in my head.”
“He was a brilliant spiritual director, providing wisdom and spiritual counsel,” said Cindy Wear, a friend of 42 years who was with him when he died. “He was kind and accepting. People could be vulnerable with him without fearing they would be judged. My whole family, even my kids, would go to him for counsel.”
Wear and husband David met Father Hoover in 1980 when he was a member of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., where he ran the Potter’s House bookstore and served as spiritual director of silent retreats.
“A silent retreat is a challenging contemplative experience where most of your time is spent in rest, silence and prayer – like Father Hoover, it is contemplative,” Wear said. “You were silent except for preordained times, such as meals, or for spiritual counsel with Father Hoover. He would listen, and he would help you find healing.”
His apartment back then looked like a library, she said, lined with rows of bookcases you could browse. Father Hoover left an extensive collection of books, with
Trappist monk and theologian Thomas Merton among his favorite authors.
After his ordination, Father Hoover served as campus minister at The Oratory for two years, then served on the faculty of Belmont Abbey College before becoming a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, then ministering to people living with AIDS as the epidemic took off in the South.
Brother Joe Guyon, who lived with Father Hoover at The Oratory, said: “What sticks out with me was his kindness. He was opened to everybody – rich, poor, black or white. It made no difference.”
In 1996, Father Hoover was assigned as pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, where he served for four years before being assigned to serve as pastor at St. Ann Church in Charlotte in 2000.
With him, Father Hoover carted a photo of himself performing a pet blessing in Boone, and he was frequently accompanied by Nikita, his black lab mix.
Charlotte parishioner Clay Presley remembers Father Hoover’s homilies “presented with deep understanding and wonderful wit” at St. Ann’s in the mid-2000s. He also recalls the particularly steep price of taking Father Hoover to lunch on one occasion.
“I went to lunch with every intention of paying the bill, and I came out with sticker shock: Somehow he had sweet talked me into leading the church’s $2.2 million fundraising campaign to finish work at St. Ann’s that had begun 50 years earlier,” Presley said.
Presley’s daughter, Leann McDevitt, and her fiancé went through pre-marriage counseling with Father Hoover, and says: “I guess it worked. We’re still married and now have three beautiful daughters. Father Hoover was a blessing in our lives.”
Father Hoover also served as the diocese’s director of ecumenism and was chaplain to the Knights of Columbus Council 770 in Charlotte. He retired from active ministry in 2006.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister JoAnn C. Hunsicker; brother Richard W. Hoover Sr.; and nephews Howard B. Hunsicker Jr. and Richard W. Hoover Jr.
He is survived by nephews Gerald H. Hunsicker of Houston, Texas, David R. Hunsicker (Louise) of Collegeville, Pa., and Jeffrey S. Hoover of Broussard, La.; niece Phyllis Hoover Theriot; six great-nieces and -nephews; and seven great-great-nieces and -nephews.
Memorial donations can be made to the L’Arche of Greater Washington, D.C., P.O. Box 21471, Washington, D.C. 20009, or online at www.larche-gwdc.org/donate.
Tribute & Tallent Funerals and Cremations of Charlotte is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald
MEADOWBROOK, Pa. — Sister Pilar Dalmau, director of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Hispanic Ministry during its early years from 1988 to 1996, died Sept. 27, 2021, of complications from COVID-19 at Holy Redeemer Saint Joseph Manor Hospital in Meadowbrook, Pa.
Sister Sagrario Nunez, who wrote a short reflection that was read during the funeral service on Oct. 9, 2021, said that “while remembering Pilar only the words of Ecclesiastes 3 came to mind: ‘There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.’”
Sister Pilar was born in France in 1928 and raised in Havana, Cuba, until 1961, when she fled the country because of the Communist regime.
She came to the United States very young and enthusiastic, full of ideas and potential. Before her arrival in Philadelphia, in 1961, she had already served as a teacher in secondary schools in Cuba and Panama. Teaching was one of her gifts and passions. She taught at the Ancilla Domini Academy in Germantown, Pa.; Bishop McDevitt Diocesan High School and Ancillae-Assumpta Academy in Wyncote, Pa.; and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baltimore. For a few years she served on the staff of the Santa Rafaela Center and also served as provincial secretary.
Her other great passion was accompanying and preparing the Hispanic community to be the next generation of leaders in the Church. In this ministry, she experienced the greatest joy and, at times, the greatest pain.
At a time when the bishops of the country urged American Catholics to open their hearts to the growing Hispanic community, Sister Pilar suffered the indifference and resistance of some Catholics who felt that the attention to the Hispanic community was pushing them aside.
She began serving in Spanish ministry at San Miguel Parish in Philadelphia. According to Sister Sagrario, “among Pilar’s most notable qualities was her ability to organize and clean, but not just clean, but through sweeping, scrubbing and hosing down, transforming the ugliest and dirtiest into beautiful and clean.” She recalled that, “unable to cope with the disorder on the streets of North Philadelphia, she not only cleaned the street herself, but successfully organized a group of volunteers to accompany her in this endeavor.”
From 1985 to 1988, Sister Pilar became director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Sister Margarita Martin describes her best years in Atlanta: “She was full of devotion and enthusiasm laying the foundation for Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, basically starting from scratch. It was her first experience organizing the Hispanic ministry at the diocesan level.”
In 1988 she responded to a call from the Diocese of Charlotte to serve as director of the nascent Hispanic Ministry. She served here until 1996, when, responding to a request from then Bishop Joseph Galante, she moved to Beaumont, Texas, to become its Hispanic Ministry director.
Finally, from 2003 to 2010, Ella Pilar assumed the direction of the School of Religion at Holy Cross Parish in Atlanta.
According to Sister Sagrario, “She wanted to continue the missionary work of St. Paul, to find and train leaders to continue the work, and then to move on. She was tireless, absolutely dedicated and at the same time very faithful to her community and spiritual life. She worked quietly, humbly and efficiently without expecting recognition.”
The words attributed to St. Oscar Romero aptly described Sister Pilar’s mission: “We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.” This truth gave her a greater purpose, a bigger picture in everything she did, a certain healthy detachment and humility. In her many successes and accolades, she knew well who the master builder was. She was available, she was ready to work where she was needed. And, as Santa Rafaela María said, “She was eager to make Christ known and loved.”
In 2010, she retired from active ministry due to declining health.
Father Fidel Melo, the Charlotte diocese’s former vicar of Hispanic Ministry, remembers Sister Pilar as a “tireless missionary” with “great pastoral sense and solidarity to the Hispanic community.”
“She took the leadership of the community when Hispanic Ministry began to flourish,” Father Melo said, highlighting her commitment to promoting vocations “at all levels, including those who came from outside the country, including mine.”
During her early years in the diocese, he recounted, Mass was celebrated in Spanish at St. Patrick Cathedral before the Hispanic Center (now Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Charlotte) was established.
“Sister Pilar strongly supported the permanent diaconate among Hispanics. Proof of this are Deacons Edwin Rodríguez (now deceased), Rafael Torres and Carlos Medina. Also, the apostolic movements, being the first to grow the Cursillo and the Charismatic Renewal,” Father Melo added.
— Cesar Hurtado, Reporter
BELMONT — Sister Bessie Florence McCarthy, 88, a Sister of Mercy for 68 years, entered eternal life on July 31, 2021.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 4, 2021, at Sacred Heart Convent in Belmont. Funeral arrangements will be private due to pandemic restrictions.
Interment will follow at Belmont Abbey Cemetery.
She was born in Newport News, Va., the sixth child of Harry Joseph McCarthy and Bessie Jewel Haley. She attended elementary and high school in Hampton, Va., and earned an associate’s degree from Sacred Heart College in Belmont. She also graduated from Mercy School of Nursing in Charlotte and earned a baccalaureate degree from Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Ky.
When she entered the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Bessie chose as her motto “The Charity of Christ I Seek,” expressing the desire of her life’s journey to love the Lord.
She practiced nursing at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte; St. Joseph’s Hospital in Asheville; Good Shepherd Health Agency in Haysville; the mission of St. Joseph the Worker in Elkhorn City, Ky.; Holy Angels in Belmont and the Sisters of Mercy infirmary. After moving to Gastonia, she expanded her ministry to include care of the elderly, tutoring children, providing food for families, taking deprived children on recreational and educational trips, visiting prisons, and the care of ill family members.
She also served as a parish associate at St. Patrick Cathedral and Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, where she continued to serve the poor and anyone in need.
She was committed to the Sisters of Mercy, and always gave priority to works of mercy. When she heard any cry, “I need…” she always responded, “Here I am.”
She was also a woman who was fun to be around, as her many friends will testify. Her favorite food was potato chips, and her favorite activity was swimming. One description of her was:
“Usually wears a smile. Heavily armed with kindness. Thoughtful and generous.”
She was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters Patricia Murcho and Nancy Borrner; and her brothers Harry and Edward. She is survived by her fellow Sisters of Mercy; her brother, Patrick (Butch); and several nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be sent to the Sisters of Mercy, 101 Mercy Dr., Belmont, NC 28012.
McLean Funeral Home of Belmont is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald
TIMONIUM, Md. — Redemptorist Father James Howard Geiger, who formerly served in the Diocese of Charlotte, died July 15, 2021, age 87, at the St. John Neumann community, Stella Maris.
The funeral Mass was offered July 21, 2021, at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Ephrata, Pa., followed by burial at St. Clement’s Mission House Cemetery in Ephrata.
Born in Rochester, N.Y., on Dec. 20, 1933, to George and Gertrude (Bradler) Geiger, he was baptized and confirmed at St. Andrew Church in Rochester.
After attending Aquinas Institute in Rochester, he enrolled at St. Mary’s College in North East, Pa., from which he graduated and matriculated to the Redemptorist novitiate at St. Mary’s College in Ilchester, Md. He pronounced first vows there on Aug. 2, 1955, and final vows at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, N.Y.
He was ordained to the priesthood there on June 19, 1960. Father Geiger exhibited a love of learning, and so his first assignment was as a professor at the Redemptorists’ minor seminary in North East. There he taught Latin and Greek for a year (1961-1962) before being sent for graduate studies at the Catholic University of America, from which he obtained a master’s degree in 1964.
In July of that year, he received a new assignment to teach classical languages at St. Alphonsus College in Suffield, Conn., a post he held until 1970. From 1970 to 1975 he was rector and principal at St. Mary’s College in North East.
Father Geiger cast his net toward a different field between 1975 and 1979, when he was rector of the San Alfonso Retreat House in Long Branch, N.J. He returned to Washington as a mission preacher between 1979 and 1984 before undertaking a spirituality course in Nemi, Italy. Consequently, he had a renewed vigor as rector of St. James and John Church in Baltimore (1985-1986).
Father Geiger then gave his talents to the former vice province of Richmond, serving at St. Francis by the Sea Church in Hilton Head, S.C. (1986-1987); St. John the Evangelist Church in Waynesville (missionary, 1987-1991); and Holy Trinity Church in Orangeburg, S.C., where he gave missions between 1991 and 1993, before becoming rector of Holy Trinity from 1993 to 1996.
Additionally, he was the rector of St. Joseph Church in Tampa, Fla. (1996-1999) and St. James the Greater Church in Concord (2002-2008). He served twice as a retreat master for Holy Family Retreat House in Hampton, Va. (1999-2002 and 2008-2011).
He returned to St. James Church in Concord as a parochial assistant between 2011 and 2015.
Between January and November 2015, he took up residence at St. Alphonsus Villa in New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
He requested to return to the Baltimore Province and was then assigned to St. Clement’s Mission House in Ephrata, where he remained until the day before his last assignment to Stella Maris in Timonium, Md., which was effective July 14, 2021.
Father Geiger was the epitome of a gentlemanly priest – friendly and engaging with a ready smile. When he shifted from teaching and administration at Redemptorist seminaries to a new challenge as rector of the San Alfonso Retreat House, he indicated to a group of retreatants that “they knew more about retreat work than he did” and asked for their prayers. The assembled men greeted him with thunderous applause.
Father Geiger recalled that his own father had been a regular attendee at the Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua, N.Y., and so attention to personal spiritual growth was already in his DNA.
“The death of any confrere is hard on all of us. For me, this is a hard loss – Jim interviewed me prior to entering the seminary and was the rector my first year at St. Mary’s Seminary. May he rest in peace,” said Father Paul Borowski, provincial superior of the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province.
Father Geiger is predeceased by his brother and fellow Redemptorist William Geiger, who died in 2007.
— Catholic News Herald
Served the people of God for 22 years
HENDERSONVILLE — Deacon Richard “Rich” G. Voegele, 79, passed away Monday, July 5, 2021, at The Elizabeth House Hospice Care in the Asheville area.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at noon Friday, July 9, 2021, at St. Barnabas Church (located at 109 Crescent Hill Dr. in Arden) with Father Adrian Porras, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hendersonville. Prior to the funeral Mass, the family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, July 9, at Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian, located at 72 Long Shoals Road in Arden.
A native of Glendale, N.Y., he was born Aug. 9, 1941, the son of the late Rudolph and Anna Langhans Voegele.
His career included 16 years as an avionics supervisor. Later, he felt drawn to full-time study for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He then devoted his time and energy as a social worker helping those with special needs.
Soon after, his pastor encouraged him to study for the diaconate. He was ordained on May 22, 1999, for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., by Bishop John R. McGann. Deacon Voegele’s first assignment was at St. Rosalie Parish in Hampton Bays, N.Y., where he served for 18 years. In 2004, he was also granted faculties for the Diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., where he served as a seasonal deacon for St. Sebastian Parish. Upon moving to Arden, he was granted faculties and assigned to St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville effective March 19, 2007. When he relocated to Hendersonville six years later, Deacon Voegele was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Hendersonville on Aug. 1, 2013. On July 2, 2015, he was granted retirement while maintaining all faculties.
During his 22 years of service to the people of God, Deacon Richard and his wife Regina were active participants in parish activities and in outreach into the communities in which they lived.
His was truly a life of following the Spirit of God.
He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Regina Wieman Voegele; one sister, Maryann Stack of Phoenix, Ariz.; and several nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials contributions be made to Hendersonville Rescue Mission, online at www.hendersonvillerescuemission.com.
Groce Funeral Home and Cremation Service is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald