Bishop Albert H. Ottenweller

Born:
Albert Henry Ottenweller was born April 5, 1916, in Stanford, Montana, but came to Leipsic, Ohio, Putnam County, at the age of six with his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ottenweller.

Education:
He attended St. Mary Elementary School in Leipsic; St. Joseph High School and St. Joseph College, both in Rensselaer, Indiana. He received degrees in Philosophy and Theology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1943.

Ordained:
He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1943, for the Diocese of Toledo by Archbishop Karl Alter, then Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo. Pope Paul VI named him auxiliary bishop of the Toledo Diocese and Titular Bishop of Predices in North Africa on April 17, 1974. Bishop John A. Donovan ordained Father Ottenweller a bishop on May 29, 1974.

Assignments After Ordination to Priesthood:
The second bishop of Steubenville had been a parish priest since his ordination in 1943. His first assignment from 1943 to 1959 was Associate Pastor of St. John, Delphos, Ohio, where he returned in 1968 to serve as pastor until June, 1976. From 1959 through 1961, he was an associate pastor of St. Richard Parish, Swanton, Ohio; from 1961 to 1962, he served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Blakeslee, Ohio, along with the Sister Parish of the Sacred Heart in Montpelier, Ohio. From 1962 to 1968, he was pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Bono, Ohio. In 1968, Bishop Donovan appointed him Vicar General of the Diocese of Toledo. He also served as a member on the Board of the Catholic Charities Corporation.He was pastor of St. Michael Parish, Findlay, Ohio, from June 1976 until Oct. 11, 1977, when he was named bishop of Steubenville and installed Nov. 22, 1977.

Long recognized for his abilities as a parish priest, Bishop Ottenweller's concern for the welfare of the larger Diocesan Community was illustrated by his long time activity in the Spanish Speaking Apostolate, of which he was director from 1958-1969. He was a member of the Governing Board of Retreats International in 1975, and named chairman of the Laity Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1978; he was also a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Parish Renewal and the American Board of Catholic Missions.

Bishop Ottenweller called for a diocesan synod, only the second ever in the Diocese of Steubenville, to be held. It was celebrated in October of 1983. In July of 1984, the priests' convocation reviewed and recommended a first-year plan of implementation of synod goals and policies. Some of the most notable changes resulting from the synod are the establishment of the deanery councils for the diocese, as well as the establishment of the priest council, both of which are functioning very effectively in the diocese at this time.

Bishop Ottenweller retired April 2, 1992.

Bishop Albert H. Ottenweller died Sept. 23, 2012, at the Ursuline Center, Toledo. A Funeral Liturgy with Mass was celebrated Sept. 28 at Holy Name Cathedral, Steubenville. Interment took place at St. Mary's Cemetery, Leipsic, Ohio.

Episcopal Motto: Peace, The Fruit of Justice