Rev. Richard Mauthe

With faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, we offer our prayers for Reverend Richard R. Mauthe who entered eternal life Thursday January 12, 2017, at the age of 87.

Father Mauthe was born in Kimberly. He is the son of Raymond and Leona (Sawall) Mauthe. He attended Kimberly High School, and a Junior College at the Capuchin House of Philosophy, Garrison, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Philosophy at Marquette University, Milwaukee, in 1954. He answered his vocational call and entered St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, where he graduated with a degree in Theology. Bishop Stanislaus V. Bona ordained Father Mauthe to the priesthood on May 31, 1958, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Green Bay.

Following ordination and a summer assignment at St. Mary Parish, Peshtigo, Fr. Mauthe served as Assistant at SS. Peter and Paul Parish, Green Bay. In 1961, Father Mauthe began 30 years of service in campus ministry was appointed Chaplain of the Newman Club at UW – Green Bay extension. This ministry developed into a full-time position in 1961, when he was appointed Resident and Chaplain at the Green Bay Newman Center. In 1967, he and other campus ministers agreed on a statement of purpose and signed a covenant creating the Ecumenical Center at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, where he served until 1991.

While serving at the Ecumenical Center, Father Mauthe also served as Parochial Vicar of St. Philip the Apostle Parish, Green Bay from 1972 to 1988, as well as Chaplain for the Green Bay Catholic Women’s Club from 1968 to 1991. He was an active member of the Ecumenical Commission and Commission for Evangelization for the Diocese. Since 1988, he has served as Chaplain of the Green Bay Serra Club and as a Field Advocate for the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal. In 1991, following his service at UWGB, Father Mauthe served as Administrator of St. Louis Parish, Dyckesville, and St. Francis de Paul Parish, Marchand. In 1993, he was named Pastor of the Dyckesville parish. Father Mauthe retired in 1999 and entered senior priest status. He continued to serve parishes sacramentally as a senior priest in Door County and Two Rivers.

Father also served as a National Chaplain for Unbound (formerly Christian Foundation for Children and Aged), since 2001. Father traveled nationally for Unbound and was responsible for the support of over 6,800 children in many developing countries.

Father was an extremely charismatic, gregarious person, who made countless friends wherever he served. He was a deep thinker, a voracious reader, deeply spiritual with a mischievous streak, whom Bishop Wycislo described as a “loyal maverick.” A good cribbage, poker, sheephead, or bingo game was always a top priority, as was serving as Spiritual Director of deer and fish camp.

In 1991, a perpetual scholarship was established at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay by the Ecumenical Foundation in light of Father Mauthe’s 30 years of service in campus ministry and his founding of the Ecumenical Center. In 1992, Father Mauthe became the first recipient of the John Henry Cardinal Newman Award by the National Association of Diocesan Directors of Campus Ministry. Father was named one of the top 100 most influential people in Northeast Wisconsin in the 20th Century by the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In recognition of Father Mauthe’s role as founder and the guiding spirit behind it, the Ecumenical Center was renamed in 2010 to The Richard Mauthe Center for Faith, Spirituality, and Social Justice.

His brother and sister-in-law, Ed and Joan Mauthe, Kimberly, Wisconsin, and his nephew and nieces, Richard (Linda) Mauthe, Peg (Jim) DeSchepper, Jean (Thomas) Hammen and Michelle (Joel) Grenzer, many great nieces and nephews survive Father Mauthe.

Reception of the body by the Regional Vicar, Very Reverend Richard Getchel, will take place at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 16, 2017 at SS. Peter and Paul Church, Green Bay. Visitation will continue until 8:00 p.m., with a Prayer Service at 7:30 p.m. led by Father Tom Reynebeau. Visitation will continue at church on the morning of Tuesday, January 17, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the funeral.

The Funeral Liturgy, expressing our faith and our hope in the promised glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, will take place on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 720 N. Baird Street, Green Bay, with Most Reverend David L. Ricken as the Celebrant, and Very Reverend Steven Brice, homilist. Burial will be at Holy Name Cemetery, Kimberly, Wisconsin.

All priests are invited to concelebrate. Please bring your alb; stole and chasuble will be provided.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Richard Mauthe Center at UWGB.