In Memory of Associate Reverend Monsignor Edward Lechtenberg

September 17, 1926 – January 6, 2025

Reverend Monsignor Edward Lechtenberg, 98, a Presentation Associate since June 2009, passed away on January 6, 2025. With his passing, we have lost a much beloved pastor, a kind and gentle man who exemplified the grace of God in every friendly conversation, sermon and correspondence in which he engaged.

Ed Lechtenberg was born September 17, 1926 in Lansing, Iowa to Joseph and Mary (Foley) Lechtenberg. At age 3, his father died suddenly, leaving his mother to raise the 5 children, ages 3 months to 9 years old, on a meager salary; so early on, Ed learned the value of hard work and contributing to family and community. He noted that working on the Mississippi River for the State of Iowa was one of the jobs he really enjoyed.

In his senior year of high school, toward the end of WWII, Lechtenberg intended to join the Navy. But he was encouraged – both by the Navy and an associate pastor in Lansing, Father Breitbach – to explore his other calling of priesthood; and following graduation from Loras, he entered Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, MO and was ordained May 3, 1951 at Christ the King Chapel at Loras in Dubuque. During the next 49 years, he served as pastor in many places throughout the Dubuque archdiocese before retiring in 2000. In 1991, he was named a Monsignor, an honor appointed by the pope at the request of the local bishop who told Father Ed, “You deserve it.”

In applying to the Presentation partnership, Father Ed stated, “I have enjoyed many years of friendship with the Presentation Sisters. I see their example, their enthusiasm, their dedication to service, to Christ and to Church. Their whole mission is so encompassing of the needs of the world that I want to be part of it.”

And indeed, Father Ed lived out that mission with a simple yet constant desire: to be a positive influence on every person he encountered and to let each person know that they are loved. He told his nephew, “Every morning when I say my prayers, I simply ask God, ‘What can I do to honor you today?’”