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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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What was the occupation of Mr. Hahn? "I've got a really great story," said Fr. B. "My father used to work in a packaging house, and the workers went out on strike and lost the strike so they lost their jobs. Dad went out to look for work and was hired by a man named Dennison, who was like a city boss like Daly, and he said, 'Just sign this paper.' When my father went to sign the application, he discovered it was to become a Mason, so he said to Dennison, 'Put that where the sun don't shine,' and walked away. This was during the Depression and Dad had a family to feed, but he still walked away. My dad really had the Faith. But Dennison liked what he saw in my dad and before he got to the door said, 'Barney, we could use a man like you.' He gave Dad a job in the Fire Department and he retired there as a captain. One time there was a fire at the Armor Packing Plant and I remember my mother was crying because Dad went to the fire. He survived. Dad was a really great man." The Hahns lived three blocks from the church and school. "We went to Mass every day. That's how it was for us," said Fr. B. At noon they walked home for lunch. Did his mother fix favorite meals? "I don't remember that, but I've been told that when I was a baby, they couldn't give me enough cabbage." Sauerkraut? "No, cabbage." Leonard attended South High School in Omaha for two years because the family couldn't afford to send him to the seminary. The public school was two miles from home but the kids still walked, of course, both ways. His favorite subject? "Baseball!" replied Fr. B. without a second thought. "I played hooky from school a lot, especially in the spring when the team was in spring training. I really wasn't interested in studies. I was really only interested in the baseball team." Leonard was also a baseball player. "I made the first team my second year there," he said. "I played shortstop and any place in the infield." "But they had a class in typing, which really came to help me as a priest because of all the correspondence and paper work," continued Fr. B., still answering the question. "And the other class I enjoyed was drafting, mechanical drafting. In the course of my time as a priest, I had to build in Chaska, at San Antone [Texas], and Bastrop [Louisiana]." Leonard's heart was in both baseball and the priesthood. "We had good Franciscan priests that traded off between Omaha and Cleveland, so we got the benefit of two great priests," said Fr. B. "I remember one of our priests was an orator, not only intelligent but also an orator. The Pope wanted to make him a bishop. We had another priest who was more of a teacher. He spoke clearly and was firm."
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March 2013 |
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Whenever Fr. B. comes to Victoria, he drives out to the Orsen home for breakfast with the editor. I took this photo in July 1989 when he was substituting at St. Victoria for Father Elstan who was on a trip to the British Isles celebrating 40 years a priest. |