Summer 2008
Kansas Monks
Photo by Sophia Harrison
Father Gilbert–altar boy to first abbot–dies at 101
Father Gilbert Wolters, O.S.B., Ph.D., the oldest monk in St. Benedict’s Abbey history, died early Sunday morning, June 1, at the age of 101. Father Gilbert, whose death came just over a month after the Abbey had concluded its 150th anniversary celebration, was a living bridge between the community’s first 50 years and its most recent. He was the last monk to have known all eight abbots; indeed, he served Mass for the Abbey’s first abbot, Innocent Wolf. On the Thursday before he died, the eve of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Father Gilbert was anointed by Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB. His brother monks kept prayerful watch with him around the clock from the time of his anointing. This July 2 would have been the 80th anniversary of his reception of the habit of a Benedictine monk. He had been a priest for 74 years. A native of Atchison, he lived his entire life here. A selfproclaimed “river rat” who as a child swam in the Missouri 8
River, Father Gilbert never lost his love for the water and was still swimming laps three times a week at the Atchison YMCA after his 100th birthday. He was born April 2, 1907, the son of the late Theodore and Nellie (Vandeloo) Wolters. After graduating from St. Benedict’s High School in 1926, he began studies at St. Benedict’s College. Following his sophomore year of college, he completed his novitiate. He was the last living monk of St. Benedict’s to do so at St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Penn. Father Gilbert made his first profession of monastic vows July 2, 1929. He graduated from St. Benedict’s College in 1931 and then attended the St. Benedict’s Abbey School of Theology in Atchison. He was ordained a priest May 26, 1934. Father Gilbert received a doctorate in sociology from the Catholic University of America in 1938 writing a dissertation on A SocioEconomic Analysis of Four
Rural Parishes in Nemaha County Kansas. He also did studies in sociology at Harvard University, and St. Xavier’s, Antogonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. His studies at Catholic University prepared him as a marriage counselor, work which he would do for nine summers in the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. At St. Benedict’s College, and later Benedictine College, Father Gilbert served as a residential hall director and was Chairman of the Sociology Department for 34 years (1938-1972). During that same time, he also served as Athletic Director of the college (1944-1945), and for six years as the Academic Dean during the post World War II years (1945-1951).
In the early 1970s, Father Gilbert was Assistant Dean of the College, and directed the freshman program. In addition he helped initiate studies in gerontology in the Sociology Department. Following retirement from the college in 1977, Father Gilbert served as chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters in Glendora, Calif. He later served in parish ministry at St. Patrick parish, Atchison County; St. Joseph, Wathena; and SS. Peter and Paul, Falls City, Neb. He is survived by the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Memorial contributions are suggested to: St. Benedict’s Abbey 1020 North 2nd Street Atchison, KS 66002
