Fr. Albert Haverkamp (1893-1949)

Father Albert went home to Nemaha County to die.  He died while pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Seneca, having been born at the neighboring St. Benedict, Kan., Oct. 25, 1893.  He entered the Abbey and was ordained in 1920.  He taught at Maur Hill 11 years and later was head of music and dramatics at St. Benedict’s College.  In 1932 he became pastor at Sacred Heart, Atchison, and then St. Benedict’s, Atchison, for nine years, following in 1947 with the appointment as pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul, Seneca, where he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Father Albert was famous for his stage productions such as “Tulip Time,” H.M.S. Pinafore and “Upper Room.”  Bishop Matthias Schmidt, then a grade schooler at St. Benedict’s, Atchison, remembered that Father Albert had a version of the Little Hours of the monastic breviary for the kids to recite at various times during the school day.  Father Albert, as a monk, recognized the importance of the Divine Office and of the growing Liturgical Movement of those days in the Church.