Fr. Athanasius Koehn (1874-1924)

Joseph Koehn was born in what is now Germany in 1874.  Shortly after the death of his mother he came to America to become a priest.  Arriving in Atchison, he entered St. Benedict‘s College, and then the monastery.  He was given the name “Athanasius,” and professed first vows July 1899.  In 1900 he was made manager of the print shop, which first caught his interest as a college student.  He managed the print shop even as he studied theology that led to ordination in 1905.  Father Athanasius is credited with exploring the new methods of printing so that he brought The Abbey Student Press up to date.  He spent one summer in Philadelphia studying printing. 

After ordination he began teaching mathematics and drafting.  He was Master of Clerics and confessor to the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Convent.  He died February 13, 1924, of intestinal flu.