Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann

Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann (December 22, 1890 – June 26, 1972) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Evansville (1944–1965).

Biography

Henry Grimmelsmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to G.H. and Frances Grimmelsman.^[1] Raised in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, he was one of ten children; three of his sisters became nuns and another brother also became a priest.^[1] As a child he attended Holy Family School, where one of his classmates was Urban John Vehr.^[1] He studied at St. Gregory Preparatory Seminary in Cincinnati (1904-1907) and at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana (1907-1909).^[2] He then entered the University of Innsbruck in Austria, but was forced to return to Cincinnati following the outbreak of World War I.^[1] He was ordained to the priesthood on August 15, 1915.^[3]

After his ordination, he studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and later returned to the University of Innsbruck, from where he earned a doctorate in Sacred Scripture.^[1] He returned to Cincinnati and then served as a curate at St. Lawrence Church.^[1] From 1920 to 1932, he became vice-rector and professor of Sacred Scripture and Hebrew at Mount St. Mary's Seminary.^[2] Pope Pius XI named him rector of Pontifical College Josephinum at Worthington in 1932.^[2]

On November 11, 1944, Grimmelsmann was appointed the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Evansville, Indiana, by Pope Pius XII.^[3] He received his episcopal consecration on the following December 21 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops Urban Vehr and George John Rehring serving as co-consecrators.^[3] Between 1962 and 1965, he attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome. He resigned as bishop on October 18, 1965; he was named Titular Bishop of Tabla by Pope Paul VI on the same date.^[3] He later died at age 81, and was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Evansville.^[1]

References