Kasimir Reichlin

†

Rev. Casimir Reichlin
Rector of
St. Stephen's Church
Cleveland, O.
1843 — 1870 — 1917

† Requiescat in Pace †

Father Reichlin is buried in the Priests' Circle, next to Bishop Koudelka. One can see where one of Koudelka's sheep is legless.

Usually, a simple inscription on a grave marker has only two dates. This one has a birth date (1843), and a death date (1917), and one more. The middle date is 1870, when Father Reichlin became rector. Rector is equivalent to pastor, rector comes from the Latin 'regere' to rule. Now, the term used is pastor.

His pastorship ended with his death, that was not unusual. A later pastor of St. Stephen's was told, "Our pastors don't retire, they die". Reichlin was given the newly formed parish at ordination, it was the second German parish on the city's west side.

The first was St. Mary of the Assumption, who bought the land for St. Mary's Cemetery. St. Mary's was given to the Jesuits in 1945, and twinned with St. Patrick's. German born Jesuits had built St. Ignatius [Loyola] (now High School). American born Irish replaced them. The last parish Mass at St. Mary's was in 1959. It continued as the school's chapel. In 1968 the church was razed. The ethnic rivalry has really not ended. Recently, Cleveland's bishop, Richard Lennon tried to 'merge' St. Stephen's with neighboring St. Colman's at St. Stephen. This caused an uproar. Colman's was quickly saved through a heavy, and immediate campaign, as was St. Ignatius of Antioch. St. Stephen's continues to exist by the grace of God. Both parishes are officially on probation, two of three such [the third is St. Ignatius].
The Father welcoming the Prodigal Son window was created by Munich's Mayer company, and installed in 1906. The window's sponsor was the Swiss born pastor Kasimir Reichlin.