News

'I wanted to be among the people'

By Joanne Flemming
Compass Correspondent

Fr. Robert Vandenberg, 78, pastor of St. Paul Parish in Combined Locks for 34 years until retiring May 31, believes that "bringing the presence and powers of Christ to the people through the Mass and sacraments" gave him his greatest fulfillment as a parish priest.

In reminiscing about his 46 years as a priest and his years at St. Paul, Fr. Vandenberg said he started his studies for the priesthood as a Jesuit novice at St. Mary College, St. Mary, Ky., but left after 1½ years because "I wanted to be among the people."

Fr. Vandenberg said he originally considered the Jesuits because he wanted to be a missionary. In the 1940s, "23% of missionaries were Jesuits." But their main ministry was education and he said he didn't want what he called "the martyrdom of chalk on the cassock". He transferred to St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., as a seminarian for the Green Bay Diocese.

As an assistant and associate pastor and pastor, he said he "did the best I could to be there for my people when they needed me ... to identify the moments of grace in their lives, to celebrate them."

He said his ability to help them during times of hardship came from Christ. "You yourself can't work miracles, but you turn it over to the Lord in your prayer life and put it at his feet. There I found a source of inspiration and insights and understandings that I didn't normally have and the courage to put these into action."

One of his greatest joys, he added, was teaching children, especially preparing them for their first confessions.

Fr. Vandenberg said he learned how much his parishioners appreciated him during the retirement party they gave him at St. Paul. He said he has about a half bushel of cards and letters from that event to answer.

Fr. Vandenberg was born in Kimberly, where he and his parents lived before moving to Kaukauna. He graduated from Kimberly High School and earned bachelor degrees in naval science and business administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee. He was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Naval Reserve in 1948.

Fr. Vandenberg said he had a "belated vocation"; he was ordained in 1958 when he was 33. "It wasn't easy discovering my vocation," he said.

He almost got married twice and could have had a career in engineering or the Navy or as a business owner. He chose the priesthood because "I wanted to do something more."

Two highlights from his priesthood, he said, were: Working with the Christian Family Movement in the 1960s, first as an assistant pastor at St. Therese Parish in Appleton, then as diocesan chaplain for eight years; and serving as treasurer for the Leo Benevolent Association, which cares for aged and infirm priests.

Fr. Vandenberg said the Christian Family Movement is an international organization that began in Belgium after World War II. Members study the Gospels and connect these with social action. The Movement's motto is "Observe, judge, act."

"It's a wonderful way to bring the Gospel, to touch the social structures that are around us and to do something about it," he said. "We are in a fast changing world. Unless Christians take hold and change it, someone else will."

St. Therese once had four or five active Christian Family groups. There also were groups in Green Bay, Oshkosh and Manitowoc.

Working with the Leo Benevolent Association gave him a chance to use his business degree. Back in 1969, at a meeting of the Priests' Senate, he brought up the need to have an updated and "meaningful support system for elderly and sick priests." Other priests agreed. Since then, he has served the Association as treasurer and executive officer. He was recently re-elected to another four-year term on the board.

Fr. Vandenberg said he has several hobbies: Fishing, hunting, gardening, reading, travel and winemaking.

In 1970, a nephew gave him a winemaking kit. When he "got big into" that hobby, he grew his own Concord white and blue grapes. Friends and parishioners also contributed their grapes. He made wine in late September through October. At one point, he made 200 gallons over a couple of years.

"I'm probably one of the few, when I hold up the chalice at Mass and say, "Fruit of the vine and the work of human hands, who knows what that means," he said. He gave up winemaking three years ago when raccoons began "harvesting" his grapes.

His gardening included rose bushes. He said he had 34 of them at St. Paul. As a hunter he got his deer 23 years in a row.

When asked to summarize his years as a parish priest, he said he "really made an effort to ... be there for my people when they needed me. I don't know if I was a good priest," he said, recalling the prayer a fourth grader once offered during Mass petitions: "For Fr. Vandenberg, that he be a better priest."