Reverend Leo H. Gildner

OTTAWA - Reverend Leo H. Gildner, age 82, Pastor Emeritus of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Ottawa, died Saturday, March 13th at Ottawa Pavilion. A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church with The Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., Bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, as the main celebrant. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery in Bloomington, Ill. Visitation will be from 1 - 5 p.m. Wednesday with Rosary Service at 4:30 p.m. and from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi Church. Gladfelter Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Father Gildner was born September 21, 1927, in Bloomington, Ill., to Leo August and Sylvia Maria (Helwig) Gildner. He attended Holy Trinity Grade School and High School in Bloomington graduating in 1949. He received his BA from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and was ordained from St. Paul Seminary, on May 3, 1953, in Peoria, by Bishop William Cousins. His first assignment was from 1953-56 at the Holy Family Church in Oglesby; from 1956-58 he taught Mathematics at St. Paul High School in Odell, Ill., and was the Chaplain at the Dwight VA Hospital. From 1958-59, he taught American History at Schlarman High School in Danville, Ill.; and from 1959-65 he taught Social Economics at Rock Island Alleman High School. In 1965 he was founding pastor of St. John the Apostle Church in Woodhull, Ill., where he served until 1970; on Diocesan Tribunal from 1967-72; from 1970-75, he was pastor of St. Mary's Church in Moline. He was pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ottawa beginning in 1975 until his retirement April 6, 1998. He was Diocesan Director of Cemeteries from 1974-93. His parents and a sister,Phyllis Osborn, preceded him in death. Pallbearers will be Gerald Chambliss, William Arkins, Martin MacDonald, Jon Parker, and James McGinnis and Ed Condron. Honorary pallbearers will be representatives of the St. Francis Altar and Rosary Society and Lorraine Bansburg and Norma Walsh, former parish secretaries. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to St. Francis of Assisi Improvement Fund or to Masses.