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msgr. hartlein shares talents over 50 years

Story and photo by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

“Dominus vobiscum.” The youngster heard Father Lawrence Gilmartin intone those Latin words at daily and Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in East St. Louis, even before he was old enough to go to school.

“I would imitate him,” Msgr. Jerry Hartlein, now a priest in the diocese for 50 years, said.

Later, Father Cletus Cunningham asked him why he didn’t become a priest. He began to think more seriously about “being a working brother,” Msgr. Hartlein said.

As he was thinking about his future, two of his brothers and an uncle were fighting World War II in the South Pacific, and he remembers “a lot of praying going on” in his home situated three blocks between Immaculate Conception and the former SS. Cyril and Methodius parishes.

Msgr. Hartlein “liked to serve” for Mass, and after two years at the former Central Catholic High School went to St. Henry’s Seminary in Belleville, now studying to be a priest. Describing himself as “floating through the seminary without making up my mind” at St. Meinrad Seminary in Meinrad, Ind., it was time to make a decision.

He liked “doing” for other people, and over the years, “double checked” his decision, but “now it’s the only thing I know.”

After assignments as an associate at the former St. Albert the Great Parish in Fairview Heights and St. Mary Parish in Belleville, Msgr. Hartlein began his first pastorate in 1964 at St. Mary Parish in Mound City and the former St. Raphael’s in Mounds. Later, the former Our Lady of Fatima in Ullin and St. Catherine’s in Grand Chain would be added so that all of the Pulaski County parishes called Msgr. Hartlein “pastor.”

The young Father Hartlein was a volunteer fireman in Mound City during the tumultuous late 1960s when race riots were not uncommon, the most well known in Cairo at the time.

Both black and white firemen volunteered in Mound City, but many of the volunteers carried guns, Msgr. Hartlein said, when they were needed to fight fires outside their community. Instead of a gun, he relied on Tiger, his German shepherd.

In 1972, Msgr. Hartlein was assigned to Holy Childhood Parish in Mascoutah where he has celebrated anniversaries of both his priesthood and the parish over the years. He celebrated the parish’s 150th anniversary in 2007 and his 50th anniversary of ordination in this, his 36th year as pastor.

Over the years, Msgr. Hartlein has become well known for his hobbies: wood carving, leather work and candle making. “My hobbies have been my relief,” he said, learning some of his wood carving skills from his uncle but mostly self taught.

Often, Msgr. Hartlein works on a project during his evenings at home. The resulting crafts have become highly prized items at fund-raising events.

Over the years, Msgr. Hartlein has served on numerous diocesan committees and councils as well as those in the community and region.

Especially active in the American Red Cross, which is “very important” to him, he has received numerous honors and committee appointments over the years.

His personal knowledge of the needs of the Red Cross came when he was a young associate at St. Albert’s when one of the elementary school students had open heart surgery.

As a donor, the young priest watched his blood go from his arm into the arm of the youngster. It made an impression on him that has lasted a lifetime.

Among other tasks on a diocesan level, Msgr. Hartlein was a deanery moderator for the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, a member of the Priests’ Council, the Clergyman’s Aid Society, and Bishop William Cosgrove appointed him to the diocesan building commission in 1978 where he continues to serve.
More recently, he was appointed to the Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal Allocations and Accountability Committee.

His goal, over his years of diocesan service has been, he said, “to try to make the diocese improve, to make it more efficient. I wanted to see things get better.”
When he arrived at Holy Childhood, the parish was in debt, and he needed to increase the collections and make improvements.

“We watched the money and cut corners,” Msgr. Hartlein said, getting some supplies from the “surplus store. We did a lot of our own work to save money.”

However, Msgr. Hartlein said he has many happy memories as well, with one coming early in his pastorate.
For his 20th anniversary of ordination in 1978, parishioners kept then Father Hartlein in church at the end of the liturgy until they were ready to present him with a new car. When he walked out in front of church, he saw everyone gathered with the car. What did he say? “Wow!”

During his pastorate, he established a parish council and finance council. The parish council was dissolved in 1995 and replaced with a parish pastoral council.

Many projects over the years have enhanced and refurbished the parish buildings.
Msgr. Hartlein’s wood working creations have not only enhanced the look of the parish but parishioners’ spirituality as well. He makes what he describes as “worry crosses,” a small piece of cedar wood with a cross carved into it.
The crosses are rough, he said, made to “challenge us,” but they can eventually be rubbed smooth.

Seeing his parishes as communities, Msgr. Hartlein continues to believe what he has known since the beginning of his ministry: “The parish is a family that prays together, works together and has fun together.”