Fr. Richard K. Poetzel, C.Ss.R., Obituary

Father Richard K. Poetzel, a member of the St. John Neumann community at Stella Maris, Timonium, Maryland, died on September 24, 2021, age 85 and ten months.

He was born November 1, 1936 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Carl and Magdalen (Weber). He was baptized November 15, 1936 and confirmed November 30, 1947 at the Redemptorist parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown; he also attended its parochial school.

He attended St. Mary’s Preparatory Seminary in North East, PA from 1951to 1957. He professed temporary vows at St. Mary’s, Ilchester, Maryland, on August 2, 1958 and perpetual vows on September 2, 1961 at Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, NY, where he was ordained to the priesthood on June 23, 1963.

Father Poetzel went on for graduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, from which he obtained a master’s degree in Library Science in 1968. He also obtained a master’s degree in Liturgical Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1975.

He was assigned to the community at Holy Redeemer College, Washington, DC from 1964 to 1965; and Mt. St. Alphonsus Seminary, Esopus, NY where he taught liturgics and served as the librarian between 1965 and 1985. While at the Mount he was involved in apostolic work, including frequent participation in Marriage Encounter in the Hudson Valley as well as serving as regular chaplain to the Christian Brothers in West Park. Periodically he would give seminars in liturgical theology to the Redemptoristine sisters whose monastery was then located in Esopus.

He was then appointed rector of the St. John Neumann Residence when it was in Saratoga Springs, NY from 1985 to 1987. He was then appointed pastor and superior of his home parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus from 1987 to 1993. Prior to his assignment to Stella Maris, Father Poetzel spent the last years of active ministry at Our Lady of Fatima, Baltimore, where he carried on a long-standing bereavement ministry.

It was said of him that not a day went by when he was not attending a wake or co-celebrating a funeral in Baltimore because of his closeness to the deceased or their families. He also supplied the Province with two editions of the Redemptorist Ordo, which continue to assist Redemptorists in their life of prayer.

In 2016, when Our Lady of Fatima was transferred to the care of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, he took up residence as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus, Baltimore. In January 2018, declining health prompted a move to the St. John Neumann Residence in Timonium where his ministry of prayer continued to his last breath.

The funeral is on Thursday,  September 30 at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baltimore, MD.