Father Frederick F. Eisemann, a priest of the Diocese of Rochester for nearly 68 years, died March 11, 2021, at St. Ann’s Home in Rochester. He was 93 years old and the oldest priest in the diocese.
A native of Rochester, Father Eisemann grew up in Ss. Peter and Paul Parish; his home parish was later St. Charles Borromeo in Greece. He attended Ss. Peter and Paul School, St. Andrew’s Seminary and St. Bernard’s Seminary before being ordained June 6, 1953, by Bishop James E. Kearney at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Father Frederick F. Eisemann, a priest of the Diocese of Rochester for nearly 68 years, died March 11, 2021, at St. Ann’s Home in Rochester. He was 93 years old and the oldest priest in the diocese.
A native of Rochester, Father Eisemann grew up in Ss. Peter and Paul Parish; his home parish was later St. Charles Borromeo in Greece. He attended Ss. Peter and Paul School, St. Andrew’s Seminary and St. Bernard’s Seminary before being ordained June 6, 1953, by Bishop James E. Kearney at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Father Eisemann served as assistant pastor at Rochester’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish (1953-54) and St. Alphonsus in Auburn (1954-58), then was procurator at St. Bernard’s Seminary from 1958-61. He returned to parish ministry as assistant pastor at his native Ss. Peter and Paul, Rochester (1965-67), and Our Mother of Sorrows, Greece (1967-74).
Father Eisemann’s only pastorate began in 1974, when he took charge of Holy Family Parish in Rochester. He remained in that position until 1990, when he began serving as a part-time assistant at Holy Cross Parish in the Charlotte section of Rochester. Father Eisemann continued to help out at Holy Cross for many years as a senior priest, and he also also regularly celebrated Mass at Greece’s GrandeVille Senior Living Community. He relocated to St. Ann’s Home in 2016, frequently assisting at liturgies there.
“Industriousness would certainly be one of his qualities. He was a hard worker all through seminary and throughout his priesthood,” remarked Msgr. Gerard Krieg, a senior priest in the Diocese of Rochester and a member of Father Eisemann’s 1953 ordination class.
Msgr. Krieg recalled that Father Eisemann was dedicated to his job as a grocery-store meat cutter during his younger years and went on to apply equal dedication to his priestly duties.
Father Robert Schrader, who was under Father Eisemann’s guidance during his deacon intern year of 1977-78 at Holy Family Parish, noted that Father Eisemann had received special training to supervise such soon-to-be priests as him.
“He was very devoted to that program, to the people of the parish and to his priest friends, whom he would visit or who would come to the rectory for various meals and celebrations,” said Father Schrader, who currently serves as pastor of Rochester’s Peace of Christ Parish.
Father Eisemann will lie in state at Holy Cross Church, 4492 Lake Ave., Rochester, on Monday, March 15, 2021, from 4 to 6 p.m. His funeral Mass will take place at Holy Cross on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, at 10 a.m., with Bishop Salvatore R. Matano serving as celebrant. The liturgy will be livestreamed at https://holycrossrochester.org. Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester.
