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Trayers, Rev Kevin Michael

KEVIN MICHAEL TRAYERS

May 15, 2004

Personal Info

  • Date of Birth: 17 May 1927
  • Place of Birth in Ireland: Renville, Oranmore
  • County: Galway
  • Education: St Mary’s College, Oranmore and St Peter’s College, Wexford, Ireland
  • Date of Ordination: 8 June 1952
  • Place of Ordination: St Peter’s College Chapel, Wexford
  • Ordained by: His Lordship, Dr. James Staunton, Bishop of Ferns

Diocesan Assignments

  • Assistant – Holy Savior, Wichita – 10/17/1952 to 2/15/1956
  • Assistant – St Andrew, Independence – 2/16/1956 to 6/7/1957
  • Assistant – Sacred Heart, Arkansas City – 6/8/1957 to 9/9/1960
  • Assistant – St Margaret Mary, Wichita – 9/10/1960 to 6/22/1961
  • Pastor – St Joseph, Cedarvale; Sacred Heart, Caney; and St Robert mission, Sedan – 6/23/1961 to 2/15/1964
  • Pastor – St Louis, Waterloo and St Agnes mission, Castleton – 2/15/1964 to 7/8/1965
  • Pastor – Our Lady of Guadalupe, Newton – 7/9/1965 to 6/30/1967
  • Chancery – Priests’ Council, Wichita – 1967 to 1973
  • Pastor – Sacred Heart, Arkansas City – 7/1/1967 to 6/19/1985
  • Pastor – St Andrew, Independence – 6/20/1985 to 1/31/1997
  • Pastor – St Francis Xavier, Cherryvale – 1993 to 2/1/1997

Father Trayers reinvigorated the Catholics living in Sedan, Kansas when in 1963 he offered Mass again in the Robert Barnes home after a lapse of 40 years. The St Robert’s mission is attached to Sacred Heart parish in Caney, where Father is pastor. Present for this momentous occasion were 31 souls. “These are small beginnings,” Father Trayers said, “but before we gather the grapes we must plant the vines.”As attendance increased, the mission was able to rent out a building which was converted into a nice little chapel with the assistance of the owners.

Thanks to a good habit practiced by Father Travers, an accident investigating officer stated that Father Trayers’ was lucky. Apparently while driving in Independence, Kansas, Father Trayers’ car was struck when another car ran a stop sign and struck him broadside. The officer said “Were he not wearing his seat belt, the collision would have thrown Father Trayers through the windshield.” Lucky break for the diocese that Father Trayers was not seriously hurt.

Father Kevin Trayers served as general chairman for the 1967 bi-annual national conference of St Peter’s College Seminary in Wexford, held at the Broadview Hotel in Wichita. Most Rev Leo C. Byrne, Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita, gave the main address to the sixty alumni who attended the event. Father Denis Trayers, who graduated from St Peter’s in 1958 served as activities chairman. The alumni in attendance came from Kansas as well as other states in the USA.

  • Date of Death: 15 May 2004
  • Place of Death: St Francis Xavier’s Rectory in Cherryvale, Kansas
  • Age of Death: 76
  • Funeral Celebrant: Most Rev. Eugene Gerber, Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita
  • Burial: Buried next to his twin brother, Father Denis, in St Francis Xavier Catholic Cemetery in Cherryvale, Kansas.

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