Date of death: 6/8/2018
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1980
Father Benedict LeRoy Auer, O.S.B. (1939-2018) of St. Martin æs Abbey, Lacey, WA, passed peacefully to God late on the afternoon of Friday, 8th June 2018, in the Abbey Infirmary fortified by the Sacraments and surrounded by his confreres and friends. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. LeRoy Kuncl was born to Charles Kuncl, Jr., and Marcelline Kuncl, nee Boudreu, in Chicago, Illinois, on 4th November 1939. Following Mr. Kuncl’s untimely death, his mother married William F. Auer who legally adopted the young LeRoy who took his adopted father’s name. Following elementary education in Cicero and Des Plaines, Illinois, LeRoy enrolled in Quigley Preparatory Seminary where he completed his high school education in 1957. Father Benedict was a very educated man. He received a B.A. from Loyola University (Chicago), a Masters from Creighton and from St. Meinrad School of Theology, and a doctorate from the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Additionally, he did advanced work at the Angelicum (Rome), Harvard and Bennington College, among other institutions of higher learning. ln 1976, LeRoy entered the Benedictine novitiate at Marmion Abbey, Aurora, Illinois, receiving the religious name Benedict. Novice Benedict Auer made his first vows on 6th August 1977, and his solemn profession on 6th August 1980 in the presence of Abbot David Cyr, O.S.B. He was ordained to the priesthood on 26th December 1980 at Annunciation Church, Aurora, Illinois, by the Right Reverend Arthur O’Neill, Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, celebrating his first Mass on 28th December, 1980, at St. Mary’s Church, Des Plaines, Illinois. In July 1991, Father Benedict formally transferred his monastic stability from Marmion Abbey to Saint Martin’s. Father Benedict exercised his priestly ministry for some eight years in the parishes of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, and later in his role of Campus Minister at Saint Martin’s College (1988-1994). He was also a professional educator. In addition to many years of teaching in the middle west, Father Benedict had been at one time Associate Professor of Education at Saint Martin’s College (later University) and Director of the Catholic Education Program. Father Benedict remarked that if there could be only one thing written on his gravestone, he’d like it to be “a poet”. He had a life-long interest in poetry, and was a published poet and author. His poems and articles appeared in many national and international publications, and he authored six books, including one on poetry therapy and another on suicidal depression and spirituality. He requested that in lieu of a homily or a eulogy several of his own poems be read at his funeral Mass. Our late confrere suffered all his life from a bipolar disorder, OCD and PTSD. This was a life long-struggle for him, though it was only formally diagnosed when he was age sixty. Father Benedict was a social individual, and at the same time a man of reflection. His poetry was inspired by the world around him – a flower arrangement, an interaction with a friend, nature – and his confreres would on occasion receive a poem reflective of their life. He was an avid reader, and also a film buff. Many of his published poems inspired others, and it was not unusual for him to receive communications from far parts of the globe. In addition to his monastic confreres and members of his family, Father Benedict is survived by many friends