YOUNGSTOWN DIOCESE Priest, administrator plan their retirements
The two priests together have more than 100 years in the ministry.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has accepted the request for retirement of Rev. Frank Lehnerd, pastor of St. Edward Church in Youngstown, effective Jan. 10, and Rev. Gerald Sommer, administrator at St. Mary Church, Canton, effective Dec. 5.
Father Lehnerd was ordained May 31, 1958, after completing seminary studies at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati. He served as an associate pastor at St. Michael Church, Canton, and administrator at St. Jude Church, Columbiana, and Sacred Heart of Mary Church, Canton.
His pastorates include St. Mary Church, Mineral Ridge, St. Catherine, Lake Mifton, St. Stephen of Hungary, Youngstown, and St. Edward. He was assistant principal and dean of boys at Cardinal Mooney High School and Central Catholic High School, Canton. He also served as principal at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.
Where they've been
Father Lehnerd was director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Youngstown, being named Episcopal vicar for social concerns. He served as spiritual director for the Youngstown Cursillo Center, was a member of the corporate board of St. Joseph Hospice in Louisville, Ohio, and the Assumption Nursing Home in Youngstown, and was a member of the diocesan Priests' Council.
Father Sommer, a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, was ordained in 1947. He completed seminary studies at Sacred Heart Seminary in Illinois and the MSC Novitiate in Shelby, Ohio.
He also earned a master's degree in sociology from the University of Detroit after his ordination. Father Sommer served on the faculty of Sacred Heart Seminary in Shelby as assistant to the novice master and dean of students.
He was a professor of sociology at Allentown College in Pennsylvania and served as superior of the MSC College Seminary in Center Valley, Pa.
His pastorates include Holy Cross Church in Nazareth, Pa., and St. Joseph Church in West Warwick, R.I., before being named administrator at St. Mary Church, in Canton, where he has served since 1986.