Viatorian leader had impact locally and globally

In the course of one summer, the Rev. Thomas Langenfeld went from incoming principal of St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, to being elected worldwide leader of his congregation, the Clerics of St. Viator.

“It was a complete surprise,” said the Rev. Donald Fitzsimmons, a counselor at the school at the time and a former classmate. “No one saw it coming.”

Langenfeld passed away Oct. 1 after complications from a fall near his home in Las Vegas. He was 79.

In 1972, Langenfeld was being groomed as the next principal of St. Viator and the one to lead its groundbreaking “school within a school” model of education.

He left briefly that summer to travel to Rome for the congregation’s general chapter meeting, held every six years. He came away as their new superior general, making him the head of more than 1,200 priests and brothers around the world.

“He was the first American elected and the youngest,” said the Rev. Mark Francis, current superior general and a native of Wheeling.

“But more than that, he was the first superior general to show his humanity. He took the reforms of the second Vatican Council to heart and promoted a new spirit of religious life.”

Prior to that fateful summer, Langenfeld had been principal of Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, after two years as assistant principal at St. Viator, where he had helped redesign its new curriculum. Students were tracked in four different programs designed around their different learning styles.

“It was a seismic shift in the organizational structure of the school, that would last for 15 years,” said Br. Don Houde, an administrator at the time.

He was unable to implement the changes at St. Viator, but at age 39, Langenfeld took his organizational skills to lead Viatorians around the world, whose Chicago Province is headquartered in Arlington Heights.

His colleagues say Langenfeld promoted a collaborative way of governing. He promoted decision making at the grass-roots level and greater collaboration among community members.

“I think his biggest contribution was the whole idea of decentralization,” Fitzsimmons added. “Before that, all of those things were decided for us, in Rome.”

Langenfeld was born on Aug. 13, 1932 in Springfield, one of 11 children born to Clifford and Bessie (Newman) Langenfeld.

He attended Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield where his Viatorian teachers made a deep impression on him. Langenfeld eventually joined the Viatorian Community, professing his first vows in 1951, before being ordained a priest in 1960.

Langenfeld spent the remaining years of his ministry in Las Vegas, where he retired in 2002.

“He was a true pastor of the congregation,” says Fr. Thomas von Behren, provincial. “He wanted us to bring a human aspect to the way we ministered, to be the face of Christ and not just of the institutional church.”

Visitation will take place from 4:30-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, before a 10 a.m. Saturday Mass of Christian burial, both at St. Patrick Church, 428 S. Indiana Ave. in Kankakee. Internment will be at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.