By Cory Graham, Diocese of Wichita

As Fr. John Reinkemeyer neared his 90th birthday and his 60th anniversary as a priest, the people closest to him wondered how they could celebrate his life and the impression that he has left on the hearts and souls of many.

Fr. John is a beloved servant of God, known as much for the bees he kept and the motorcycle he rode as for his impassioned faith and concern for fallen away sheep.
Bishop Michael O. Jackels describes Reinkemeyer as “one of the heroes among the great and saintly priests of the Diocese of Wichita,” in the 2009 biography, “Father John Reinkemeyer: God’s Humble Servant.”

With Fr. John’s birthday and Jubilee approaching, his housekeeper and friend of 44 years, Doris Brand found a way to honor the life of this selfless and faith-filled man with a seminary burse in his name.

The burse allows Brand and others to put money into an endowment that will produce interest. And that interest will be used to educate seminarians in our diocese now and into the future.

“A lot of individuals and groups begin seminary burses to honor or memorialize a loved one,” said Mike Wescott, director of development for the diocese.

When Doris Brand first considered starting the burse, Fr. John was reluctant. He suggested she wait until he was dead. But a burse does not have to begin as a memorial.
“I just thought when the Lord calls him home, we can have a memorial to that seminary burse,” Brand said.

Wescott says donors can start a seminary burse with as little as $1,500 or contributions in any amount can be added to existing burses like the Father John C. Reinkemeyer Friends and Family Seminary Burse.

The diocese uses seminary burses like the one honoring Fr. John along with a portion of the annual Christmas Call to Sharing collection to pay the tuition, room and board for nearly 50 seminarians each year. But in recent years, that has not been enough.

“We are blessed to be able to provide this time of formation and education to our men through your generosity,” said Fr. Mike Simone, director of vocations for the diocese. “However, as the number of our seminarians increases, and the costs of education continue to rise, we are constantly searching for ways to fund seminarian education.”

This financial need along with our need for holy men to study for the priesthood in the Diocese of Wichita led Bishop Jackels to include seminarian education in the TOGETHER vision. Any member of our diocesan family can designate all or a portion of their TOGETHER vision gift to seminarian education through a seminary burse.

Through the Father John C. Reinkemeyer Friends and Family Seminary Burse, Fr. John will continue to support the formation of young men who may one day give their lives in service … just as he has.

“He’s the one who encouraged me – strongly encouraged me,” said Fr. Samuel Pinkerton, pastor at St. Anthony in Garden Plain and St. Mary in Aleppo. “Thanks be to God and this great man for helping me to follow (God’s call).”