continue at Superior Catholic HeraldEAU CLAIRE, Wis. (CNS) -- Msgr. Edmund J. Klimek, a leader in hospital ministry and senior priest chaplain at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, died Aug. 28 at the hospital where he had ministered to others for 45 years. The priest, who was 85, suffered from complications after a recent fall.
Msgr. Klimek, who received local, state, and national accolades during his lifetime, is remembered as a deeply humble and spiritual man who ministered to the sick, suffering and dying with a quiet and unassuming manner.
When he received the Catholic Health Association's Lifetime Achievement Award June 3 at the organization's assembly, he said that during his decades of ministry to dying patients, they never told him they were afraid to die, but they frequently said they did not want to die alone.
"In Catholic hospitals, there should never be a patient who ever dies alone," he stressed.
During the last days of his life, Msgr. Klimek was surrounded by friends and family members, who prayed with him as he did for so many others over the years.
Bishop William P. Callahan of La Crosse, Wis., is scheduled to celebrate a funeral Mass for Msgr. Klimek Sept. 5 at St. James the Greater Church in Eau Claire followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery in Eau Claire.
Here is his final reflection before his passing.
Recently celebrated 60 years as priest
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