Meet Father Joe Seitz            

      His business card that reads “Father Available” is the first clue that  Fr. Joe Seitz is enjoying an active retirement. A parishioner of  St. Bernadette Parish, Father Seitz presides at Eucharist for our community on the weekend and during the week. He also trains lectors and Eucharistic ministers, interviews candidates for Confirmation, occasionally substitutes for Religious Education classes, and regularly shares in leading the adult Bible study group. Fr. Seitz speaks of his Six Mile Story. He was born at 79th and Jeffrey, and baptized at Our Lady of Peace. His family then moved six miles south to 94th and Hoyne. He was in the first 1st grade class at Christ the King, and was in the first graduating class to be at Christ the King all eight years. Ordained by Cardinal Stritch in 1958  ,  Fr. Seitz was the first graduate of Christ the King to be ordained for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He moved six south of his family’s home to his first assignment at St. Benedict, Blue Island and its mission church, St. Peter Claver. After eight years, Fr. Seitz moved six miles north of his family home to St. Raphael Parish in Englewood where he ministered for 24 years. In December 1990, Fr. Seitz returned six miles south to his home parish, Christ the King, as pastor. Towards the end of his tenure, Fr. Seitz bought a home in  St. Bernadette, where he moved after he retired in 1998. In July 2001, Bishop Gorman asked Fr. Seitz to minister to St. Bernadette Parish until the new pastor arrived. In addition to celebrating Mass and funerals at many local parishes,  Fr. Seitz enjoys gardening, home repair, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, photography and baking. Travel has been a “peak experience” with his most recent trip to the Canadian Rockies, and looking forward to joining his niece in a trip to Switzerland. Whether it is watching the flowers grow in his garden or beholding the awesome splendor of the mountains, Fr. Seitz just enjoys living. What is the “peak experience” in his everyday life? Fr. Seitz said that saying Mass and being with the people is the high point of his day!