Father Leonard Baldus, O.M.I., 95, of Story City, Iowa, born April 3, 1910, in Story City, Iowa, died Saturday, July 30, 2005, at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Belleville, Ill.
Father Baldus was a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate for 68 years. Early in his ministry, he served at St. Henry’s Seminary, Belleville, Ill., as a teacher and coach. From 1955 to 1961, he served as treasurer for the former Central Province from Minnesota. Later, he worked in South Dakota and Minnesota. In Sisseton, S.D., he established a gallery featuring Native American art. His last assignment was to Ava-Mansfield, Missouri, where he helped build Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Mansfield. Father Baldus moved to the Dammert Center at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, Ill., in 1999.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Mary Alice, nee Garland, Baldus; two sisters; and seven brothers.
He is survived by a sister, Mary Baldus Hadaway; and two brothers, Francis (Mary Ruth) Baldus and Joseph (Joanne) Baldus.
A funeral mass of Christian burial was celebrated at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows Apartment Community Chapel, Belleville, Ill.
Burial was in St. Henry’s Oblate Cemetery, Belleville, Ill.
Arrangements were by George Renner & Sons Funeral Home, Belleville, Ill.
