Skip to main content

Sunday's Obituary: James Kirchner

James J. Kirchner Sr., 76, of North President Ave., Lancaster, died at Essa Flory Hospice Center on December 11, 2004.

Born in Lancaster he was the son of the late Othmar and Elizabeth Brophy Kirchner. He was married to Margaret Welsh Kirchner. In February 2005 they would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary.

Surviving is a daughter, Ann M. Able, wife of Tony of Wrightsville; three sons, James J. Jr., husband of Tina of Lancaster; John M., husband of Tracey of Elizabethtown; and Stephen T., husband of Susie of Lancaster; eight grandchildren, Jordan and Jenna Abel, Joshua, Laura, Alex, Erica, Gregory and Andrew Kirchner. There are two surviving brothers and two sisters, Thomas Kirchner of Douglasville; Michael Kirchner of Lancaster; Helen Bitts, and Mary Ann Welsh of Lancaster. He was preceded in death by a brother, Othmar Kirchner, and a sister, Margaret Kilhefer.

He is a member of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church. Jim attended Lancaster Catholic High School. In 1943 he entered St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville, MD. Following his graduation from St. Charles Seminary he entered the St. Charles Seminary at Overbrook in Philadelphia. He was sent by the late George L. Leach, Bishop of Harrisburg, to the North American College in Rome, Italy for three years. During the Korean War he served in the US Army and was stationed in Austria for two years. He graduated from Georgetown University School of Law in 1958. He worked for the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, DC for three years. He was a practicing attorney in Lancaster for forty-four years. He was a member of the Pennsylvania and Lancaster Bar Association and was also admitted to practice law before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was the Democratic Candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Lancaster County in 1972 and 1978. He was the head of the Lancaster Water Authority for a number of years. He was the first President of The Serra Club International. He was also employed as an administrative law Judge by the PA Liquor Control Board, appointed by the late Gov. Milton Shapp.

He was a Past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Council #867 of Lancaster. He also belonged to The Lancaster Elks Lodge BPOE #134. He was also a member of the Men's Club at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. He was appointed to the mission Board by Bishop Daily and served on the cemetery committee for the Diocese of Harrisburg.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday morning at 11:00am from St. Joseph Catholic Church, 440 St. Joseph St., Lancaster. Friends may call at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Wednesday from 9:00am to 10:45am. Interment will be at St. Joseph New Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers contributions in Jim's memory may be made to Hospice of Lancaster County, PO Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604 or Lancaster Catholic High School Athletic Association, 630 Juliette Ave., Lancaster, PA 17601.

Arrangements by the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home, 414 E. King St., Lancaster. www.snyderfuneralhome.com
NOTE: Obituary was published on LancasterOnline.com on 13 December 2004.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

52 Ancestors: Anna Keating Walsh is one Tough Woman

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , has challenged us this week with tough women. She asked “ Who is a tough, strong woman in your family tree? Or what woman has been tough to research?” My 2x great grandmother Anna Keating Walsh is indeed a tough woman.   She is a tough woman to trace and I believe she was a tough woman in her time as well. Anna (everyone past my grandparents get actual names; it is the only way I can keep people straight) was born around 1855 in Ireland . According to my grandmother, she was born in County Mayo .   My grandmother had told me that Anna had immigrated with her siblings and that she was the youngest Her parents – Patrick and Knapy Penelope Keating - had stayed behind and she settled in Ringtown which is just a stone’s throw from Shenandoah (assuming of course you can throw a bit)!   She married Michael Walsh and the lived in Shenandoah. The 1910 Census stated Anna had 11 children, with only six living in 1910. I would...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...