Date of death: 7/3/2013
Saint Meinrad Class: SPH 1949
Father Ambrose Gerald Wathen, O.S.B., monk of Saint Joseph Abbey in Saint Benedict, La. died at Saint Joseph Abbey on Wednesday morning, 3 July 2013. He was 81 years old.Son of the late Henry and Lillian Wathen, Fr. Ambrose was born in Evansville, In., on 10 December 1931. He made his profession as a Benedictine monk of Saint Joseph Abbey on 21 August 1959 and was ordained a priest on 28 August 1965. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Anna Mae Wathen Lewis, and is survived by his brothers Melvin Wathen and Jim Wathen.Fr. Ambrose’s 53 years as a monk were marked with the love of learning and the desire for God, serving his fellow monks, the Benedictine Order, and the greater Church in numerous capacities. As a talented artisan, he served his brother monks in the kitchen, sacristy, and tailorshop. A gifted scholar, Fr. Ambrose published numerous articles on monasticism and served as a seminary professor, the formation director of the monastery, a professor in the Monastic Institute at Sant Anselmo in Rome, and was the fourth President-Rector of Saint Joseph Seminary College.