Tower Topics ~ Summer 2002

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Father Walter Heeney, 84, dies peacefully

At about 8:30 in the evening of Saturday, April 20 2002, in the eighty-fourth year of his life, our confrere Father Walter Heeney,
OSB, passed from this world to eternal life.

As darkness was settling on northwest Missouri, Father Walter passed to the light that never ends. He was found to have died quickly and silently in his room in our infirmary while sitting in the wheelchair to which a truly severe case of rheumatoid arthritis had confined him for the past several years.

His gentle and unobtrusive manner of taking leave of our community was typical of the humility and dedication he exemplified throughout his entire life, over 60 years as a monk of Conception Abbey.

Born on June 23 1917, in Hubbard, Neb., he was named Francis at his baptism at St. Mary’s Church there. His mother died in October of that same year, and he was raised by his father and his Aunt Bennetta. He graduated from Hubbard Public High School in May 1935. In the fall of that same year he began to attend Conception College with the idea of eventually studying medicine but was soon drawn to the monastic life.

Together with those who were later to be known in religion as Abbot Kevin McGonigle, Father Joachim Schieber, Father Berthold Brown, Father Cyril Burbach, Brother Pius Kientzy and Brother Julius Ried, he entered the novitiate, and made his first profession of vows on August 30, 1939. In 1940 he finished his undergraduate studies with a bachelor of arts degree from Conception; he continued with theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood on May 12, 1943.

From the time of his solemn profession and ordination to the priesthood, Father Walter served in our community in many different ways. From 1943 to 1945 he served in the High School as professor and prefect. From 1945 until 1956 he served as Procurator (now known as Business Manager). During this time Abbot Stephen Schappler asked him to help establish Conception’s new foundation, Mount Michael, near Elkhorn, Nebraska. There he served as construction supervisor and treasurer.

Father Walter’s interest in construction and architecture then led Abbot Stephen to give him the opportunity to study architecture and art at the University of Colorado at Boulder until 1959. Father Walter was intimately involved in Conception’s building projects, especially the construction of St. Joseph’s Hall, St. Stephen’s Infirmary, Marian and St. Benedict’s Halls, and the recent renewal of the Abbey Basilica. We owe much to the guidance and direction he ably gave the community during these projects.

On returning home from his studies at Boulder, he was called upon to fulfill many tasks in addition to those which demanded his expertise in building and construction. Over the succeeding years he served again as professor and prefect in the seminary, as brother instructor, as spiritual director in the seminary, as director of the Pastoral Formation Center in Kansas City, as director of development, and as subprior. Of special note was the time he spent as the prior of Skt. Knud’s Kloster near Copenhagen, an effort on the part of Conception Abbey to establish a Benedictine foundation in Denmark which had to be discontinued after several years. He also spent most of the time between 1973 and 1977 as the director of the Foundation for Community Creativity in Washington, D.C.

About this time he began to suffer badly from the rheumatoid arthritis which was to plague him intensely for the rest of his life. His pastoral work was marked by a patient endurance of his affliction and a gentle manner that profoundly impressed those who came into contact with him. From 1977 to 1979 he served as associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Springfield, Mo. From 1979 to 1985 he was pastor of the small inner-city parish of St. Aloysius in Kansas City. He served as chaplain to the Franciscan Sisters at Mount Alverno Convent, Maryville, from 1985 to 1987.

In our local parish community Father Walter was especially loved during the time which he served as the senior priest in residence at St. Columba Church, Conception Junction, from 1987 until 1994. From 1995 to the Fall of 1999 he was the chaplain for the Franciscan Sisters at LaVerna Heights Provincial House in Savannah, Mo. It was there that his health problems became so serious that it was necessary for him to return to the Abbey to take up residence in our infirmary. During this time, however, he continued to take an active interest in all the community affairs.

The above litany does not succeed in naming the many places at which Father Walter has left his mark. His character, so marked by gentleness, patience and zeal for doing God’s will, made those around him happier than they were before they met him. Even Felix, the infirmary cat, will miss him, now that his frequent habit of joining Father Walter to look out the window at the birds with him has come to an end.

In 1993, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, Father Walter, who had suffered so much from his crippling arthritis during the later part of his life, chose to put this text on a card enclosed in the invitations to the celebration:

“Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult all creation around
God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King is risen!
Sound trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth in shining splendor,
Radiant in the brightness
of your king!
Christ has conquered.
Glory fills you!

How fitting that God called Father Walter to eternal happiness during this Easter season of light, glory, and unending hope!

Vespers of the Faithful Departed was sung at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2002. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on April 25, 2002. To the all-merciful God and the kindness of your prayers, we commend our brother, Father Walter, in the sure hope of the promise of eternal life and peace.

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