Fr. Marian Kotinek (1901-1951)

Father Marian Kotinek passed away August 22, 1951.

Father Marian died as a result of a car/truck accident in Marshalltown, Iowa, August 13, 1951, while returning from La Crosse, Wisc., for the burial of his brother, George, killed in an auto accident a week earlier.  Abbot Cuthbert McDonald was at his bedside.  

He entered our community from Lawrence, Neb., attended school at St. Benedict’s and was ordained in 1926.  After he received a degree in Classics from the University of Michigan he taught at St. Benedict’s College and was student chaplain.  He was secretary to Abbot Martin Veth before being appointed as pastor at St. Malachy’s, Creston, Iowa.  There he was famous for promoting good liturgical worship and fostering Catholic family life.  He wrote a history of the Benedictine Foundation, St. Malachy’s Priory founded in 1873.