Father Carl Eckert, native of Sellersburg, served in Lafayette Diocese

By Mary Ann Wyand

Father Carl E. Eckert, a retired priest of the Lafayette Diocese and native of Sellersburg, died on Aug. 28 at the Carmel Care Medical Center in Carmel, Ind. He was 82.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Aug. 31 at St. Joseph Church in Sellersburg. Burial followed at the St. Joseph Parish cemetery.

Father Eckert served at five parishes in the Lafayette Diocese and had ministered as a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Kokomo, Ind.

He celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination on May 8, 2004.

He was born on Aug. 11, 1924, to the late August and Mary Agnes (Popp) Eckert of Sellersburg, and was the fifth of 12 children.

He was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1954, at St. Mary Cathedral in Lafayette, Ind., by the late Bishop John George Bennett.

His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Anderson, Ind. In 1959, Father Eckert was named pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Goodland, Ind. In 1968, he was named pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Tipton, Ind.

In 1972, Father Eckert began ministering as a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Kokomo. Five years later, he was named pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Reynolds, Ind.

In 1987, Father Eckert was granted permission to retire from active ministry.

Father Eckert also served as a chaplain for the Knights of Columbus in the Lafayette Diocese and assisted with prison ministry as a chaplain at the Pendleton Correctional Facility in Pendleton, Ind.

In an interview with Thomas Russell, editor of The Cath-olic Moment, the newspaper of the Lafayette Diocese, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of ordination, Father Eckert spoke fondly of his family, who were farmers and often sold produce in Louisville.

He credited his pastor, the late Father George Scheidler, a priest of the archdiocese, with influencing his vocation to the priesthood.

“He was a good man,” Father Eckert said of his priest mentor, who spoke to Bishop Bennett on his behalf.

He was accepted as a seminarian for the Lafayette Diocese then attended St. Mary College in Kentucky to “catch up on Latin.” He completed his studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary.

Surviving are a sister, Mary Evelyn Hankins of Avon; two brothers, Matthew Eckert of New Albany and John Eckert of Sellersburg; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts may be given as Mass stipends at parishes in the archdiocese or Lafayette Diocese.

(The Catholic Moment, newspaper of the Lafayette Diocese, assisted with this story.) †