'He knew all his life that he wanted to be a priest'
No matter what parish the Rev. Richard Joseph Ehrens served in, he ended each of his sermons with the same, comforting closure: "God loves you," he said. "He really does."
His trademark ending stretched from his years serving in Chicago churches to his six-year term as pastor of Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Arlington Heights, and even into his retirement, starting in 2001 at Addolorata Villa in Wheeling.
The phrase stayed with parishioners long after they remembered his sermon, and now they are remembering it upon hearing of his passing. Fr. Ehrens died Thursday at age 76. In April, he would have celebrated his 50th year as a priest.
"He knew all his life that he wanted to be a priest," says his sister, Roberta Gridley of Deerfield.
The family lived in North suburban Highwood during his childhood, and he attended St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, before being ordained in 1958 by Cardinal Strich as a Chicago Archdiocesan priest.
Early assignments took him to serve as an associate at St. George and St. James churches in Chicago, before he was named pastor of St. Malachy Church. At the time he was the youngest pastor in the archdiocese.
He later taught Latin and Greek at Quigley South Preparatory Seminary, before serving as vicar of Catholic Education for the archdiocese.
"That's the amazing thing," says the Rev. Edward Fialkowski, current Our Lady of the Wayside pastor, "how adaptable he was and willing to take on any assignment asked of him by the church."
In 1983, Fr. Ehrens returned to ministering to parishioners, when he was named pastor of Our Lady of the Wayside, including serving its more than 3,000 families, and overseeing its large Catholic school.
He is credited with encouraging parish leaders to become more actively involved in the church, including sending its first deacons into the archdiocese's deaconate program, as well as others to be trained in lay ministry.
"We were really on the forefront of that movement," says Frank Cassady, hired by Fr. Ehrens as the parish's first professional business manager, at the same time as the parish management council was formed.
During the last half of his term, Fr. Ehrens involved the parish in one of its most ambitious projects, officials say, with the three-year Renew program.
"It was designed to reawaken people's sense of spirituality and belonging," says Brendan Foley, parish deacon, and a member of the Renew steering committee.
The program reached out to parishioners through small group and large group involvement, as well as through a community wide evangelization program, which sent parishioners knocking on doors in order to reach out to more people.
When Fr. Ehrens left Our Lady of the Wayside in 1989, parishioners dedicated a courtyard in his name, with a plaque that reads: "He taught us how to love." Fr. Ehrens will lie in state from 9:30 a.m. before a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of the Wayside Church, 450 S. Mitchell Ave. in Arlington Heights.
Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop of New York and a seminary classmate of Fr. Ehrens, will be the main celebrant and deliver the homily.