Rev. Quinn Weitzel,

94 Maryknoll priest, rst bishop of American Samoa

Rev. Quinn Weitzel, 94, died on Dec. 30, 2022 at the Maryknoll Mission Center in Ossining New York. Born in Chicago on May 10, 1928, he attended St. Francis Xavier School in LaGrange and St. Luke School in River Forest, then Fenwick High School in Oak tering the Maryknoll order in his at Quigley Preparatory

He attended Maryknoll Venard Apostolic College, Clark’s Summit, Pennsylvania, as well as Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and a Master of Religious Education degree. He later completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development in 1969.

Ordained as a Maryknoll (Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America) priest on June 11, 1955, Maryknoll’s largest-ever ordination class, he was initially assigned to promotional and fundraising work in the Chicago area, and in 1959 was named director of the Chicago Development House. He returned to New York in 1967 as Maryknoll assistant director of Devel- opment, becoming director of Development in 1969.

He was granted a mission in Falealupo, Western Samoa in 1978, where he mastered the language of the people he served and lived the mission of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, “spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ through love and hope by serving those most in need across the world.”

Pope John Paul II appointed Weitzel as the first bishop of American Samoa on June 9, 1986. He advocated family, education, community faith and music, becoming close with his ongregants and the people of the region.

He initially retired to the Maryknoll Resience in Los Altos, California, later relocating to the Maryknoll Mission Center in Ossining, New York

Quinn is survived by his sister, Mary Joan Hennessy; his sister-in-law, Marilyn Weitzel; and nine nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl J. and Patricia Q. itzel; his brothers, Charles J. and William B. Weitzel; his brother-in-law, Joseph F. Hennessy; and his sister-in-law, Mary Margaret Weitzel.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at the Maryknoll Mission Center in Ossining, New York on Jan. 4. On Jan. 17, a visitation was held at St. Luke Catholic Church in River Forest, followed by interment at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, P.O. Box 305, Maryknoll, NY, 10545, Attn: Council Secretariat, or the Diocese of American Samoa-Pago Pago, PO Box 596, Fatuoaiga Street, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799.

Arrangements were handled by Zimmerman-Har nett Funeral Home