Martin Luehrs

Martin B. Luehrs, age 94, of Winona, passed away on January 11, 2020, after suffering a heart attack in mid-December.

Marty was born on February 23, 1925, to Walter and Josephine Luehrs in Joliet, IL. After graduating from Joliet Catholic High School in 1943, Marty served in the U.S. Navy from February of 1943 until May of 1945 on the U.S.S. Thomas J. Jarvey in Korea, China, England, and Wales.

After his Navy tour, he attended St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, KS, graduating with a B.S. Degree in Biology. In 1947, he entered the Trappist Monastery, Our Lady of Gethsemane Abbey, in Trappist, KY, where he lived for four years until he was sent by the Trappist Order to Piffard, NY, in order to help found a new monastery, the Abbey of the Genesee. In 1965, unable to reconcile with the reforms introduced by Vatican II, he left the Trappists. He lived the remainder of his life in Winona, MN, where for a time he was an active member of the Winona Toastmaster’s Club. Before retirement, he worked mainly in carpentry and related jobs.

He was a long-standing parishioner at the chapel associated with St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, now Holy Angels Novitiate on Stockton Hill, and he devoted his life to prayer and living in the presence of God.

Martin was preceded in death by his parents and his sisters: Ruth and Margaret Mary, and his brother, Walter. He is survived by his sister, Leanne Abate, of Romeoville, IL.

Visitation will be held at 9 AM on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at Holy Angels Novitiate, 21077 Quarry Hill Road in Winona, MN.  The Recitation of the Most Holy Rosary will be held in the Novitiate Chapel at 9:30 AM, followed by the offering of the Requiem Mass at 9:50 AM. Burial will follow in the Novitiate Cemetery.

Online condolences or memories may be left for Marty’s family at www.watkowski-mulyck.com.

Watkowski-Mulyck Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.