- Bishop George Henry Speltz, 91, who served as bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud from 1968 to 1987, died Sunday night, Feb. 1, 2004, at St. Benedict Senior Community in St. Cloud.
Mass of Christian Burial was on Monday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Mary, St. Cloud.
Bishop Speltz was born May 29, 1912, in Altura, Minn. He attended Holy Trinity High School in Rollingstone, Minn., graduated in 1932 from St. Mary's College in Winona, Minn., attended St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, and earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1944.
Bishop Speltz was ordained a priest June 2, 1940, at the College of St. Theresa in Winona. He served in many parishes in southeastern Minnesota before being named a bishop.
He was ordained a bishop on March 25, 1963, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. He was named auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Winona, and Titular Bishop of Claneus in 1963. On June 7, 1966, Bishop Speltz was installed as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud, becoming the sixth bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud on Jan. 31, 1968, and served the diocese in that capacity until he retired Jan. 13, 1987.
Bishop Speltz was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Sister Genevieve, OSF, and Margaret Wicker; and four brothers, Monsignor Richard, Edward, Alfred and Paul.
Obitiary from the Paynesville Press, Feb. 2004
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1912 - 2004 (91 years)
