Father Stadtmueller also a native of Germany, came to the U.S. in 1928, was ordained to the Priesthood in 1940 and came to New Mexico in July of that year. After teaching at Lourdes School and being assistant in the parishes of Santa Rosa and Sacred Heart (Albuquerque), Fr. Stadtmueller was appointed pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish (Mosquero), by his Excellency, Archbishop Edwin V. Byrne in November 1943.
Two priests served in the San Antonio mission church. Between 1920 and 1944, Mass was offered by the Rev. Courad Lammert, parish priest from the town of Bueyeros. Then from 1944 to 1955, the Rev. Fred Stadtmuller, from the Mosquero parish, served the El Carrizo community. Area resident Doroteo M. Martinez was baptized in San Antonio Church during its early years. “The church was beautiful inside,” he recalls. “Mass was offered once a month. We had a funcion every June 13 and (the statue of) San Antonio was paraded around the church. My parents and other family members are buried in the cemetery.” His nephew Epimenio Martinez remembers Rev. Stadtmuller, the “Flying Padre.”
“Father Fred Stadtmuller used to fly his plane into El Carrizo. He used to give people rides. I rode in his plane once; it was my first time. He landed the plane on the flat.”
Monsignor Stadtmuller is now retired and lives in Albuquerque.
Hi
Interesting Blogs, especially the Ewtn blogs. I am a convert so some of the Priest listed not known to me, but my wife would know them because her sister is a Cloistered nun with Mother Angelica for over 20 years. I also work as Vice President of the Fatima Family Apostolate directed by Fr. Robert J. Fox. Not sure if you know him. 2 weeks ago He was diagnosed with early stages of bone cancer. Please pray for him.
http://www.johnpreiss.wordpress.com
John C Preiss
Dear Father Joe,
Thank you for the interesting post. My folks live in New Mexico and sometimes they like to take a ride and visit the I Pueblos and other historical places. I know they will enjoy learning about the church and the Padre. They live in a suburb of Albuquerque. There are some interesting churches at some of the Pueblos ~ One in particular is at Laguna Pueblo…the Church of St. Joseph. It was built in the 1600s. The Spanish missionaries had a great devotion to Good St. Joseph and every year had a procession with a beautiful image of him painted on a hide(I think it was buffalo!). You can see it today. The Stations of the Cross were among the most vivid I have ever seen. The wooden altar was adorned with the most beautiful and colorful carved flowers. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures. But it is wonderful to find such beauty and the past history of our Faith in what to some may seem just another lonely little town.
God bless
Dear Father,
I knew Monsignor Stadtmueller. I was once a seminarian for the Diocese of Gallup and though Monsignor was not of our diocese, he lived in our diocesan boundaries upon his retirement and filled in often in various parishes throughout the Diocese.
I received notification from a priest friend of mine in the Diocese that Monsignor Stadtmueller has died at the age of 95 yesterday or the day before.
May his soul and souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest peace.
Dear Father Joe,
Monsignor Stadtmueller passed away around 3:00 p.m. on August 22nd after a terribly painful last few days resulting from prostate cancer, which had metastisized to bone cancer. He has lived with my husband (his nephew), Charles, and I in Virginia since March. He requested to live with us because he wanted to be with family “when he died”. For those who wish to know, mass will be tomorrow (August 28th) at Holy Ghost Church in Albuquerque and the funeral will be on Friday. It is with great regret that I could not attend the funeral, however, we could not afford for both my husband and I to fly there. I was blessed to know Monsignor Stadtmueller (Uncle Fred, as we called him), although it was for a very short time.
God is good! He has delivered the Monsignor from his terrible pain.
Peace be with you.
Kim Stadtmueller
Dear Father Joe,
Indeed, Msgr. Fred Stadtmueller passed away on Sunday, August 24, 2008 in a nursing home in Rocky Mount, VA. The rosary group from our local parish, which my daughter belongs to, visited him last Tuesday evening and recited the rosary at his bedside and then the Divine Mercy Chaplet. My understanding is that he had been in the nursing home a short time and had a nephew living in Roanoke, VA, and that he was taken back to New Mexico for funeral and burial. I watched the movie about him and was very impressed with it. May he rest in peace.
I was saddened to read Monsignor Stadtmueller’s obit this a.m. in the Albuquerque Journal. He was a fascinating, wise, and independent-minded gentlemen that I was privileged to interview several times in 2004 and 2005 as part of my research for my master’s thesis re: life on the high plains pre-1950. I am heartened that he died with his family. Although he had many, many friends here in New Mexico, after his long term housekeeper passed a few years ago, I know he was lonely.
His memories of circuit riding his mission churches throughout Harding and Union County, New Mexico in a Piper Cub are unique—and priceless. It was a time and place as remote from us now as Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
Sharon Karpinski
University of New Mexico
Uncle Fred was a legend, and I remember flying in the “Spirit of St. Joseph” with him around 1944-1945. Kim, we have never met, but Charles is my cousin. I wish I had known Uncle Fred had come to Va. Have tried to find your phone # unsuccessfully. GOD BLESS YOU UNCLE FRED, MAY YOU REST IN PEACE!
Catherine (Stadtmueller) Bolin
Winchester, VA
I am also a niece of Fred Stadtmueller’s (hello, Kim, Charles, and Catherine!), and remember very well how he’d fly his plane back East occasionally to visit the family when we were kids. I got to know him better as an adult, visiting with him several times after he’d retired, and we’d phone each other every few months until he moved and I lost track, which I’m very sorry about. He was a highly intelligent and kind man, a hard worker, and a good friend and neighbor to so many. He was no longer flying when I visited him in NM, but he sure drove fast!
Uncle Fred was at the center of controversy in the early 60s, and was evicted by residents from his pastor position at the Isleta Pueblo. He was accused by some of cultural insensitivity, of demeaning the Indians’ spiritual and cultural practices. What I learned in interviewing him and others, and in reading through archives on the matter, was that, as is often the case, there was a lot more going on than met the eye. Independently of Fred’s attitudes or actions, political strife brewed within the tribal government that produced heated factions on the pueblo; the police chief’s son was a suspect in several crimes, etc. If I remember correctly, the bishop’s refusal to appoint another priest after Fred’s departure ultimately led to a freedom of religion appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Uncle Fred was a stubborn guy, and pretty doctrinaire in his Catholicism–not unusual for someone who trained in a pontifical academy. He certainly did not grant indigenous religion the same credibility as Catholicism, and as such was part of an unfortunate continuum of Catholic influence in other cultures. But I do know Fred considered himself unjustly accused of many actions, as did many of his friends on the Pueblo. He was open-minded enough not to let my own rejection of Catholicism interfere with our visits or our friendship, for which I was grateful. He was a cool guy, and I’m glad he’s now at peace after his suffering.