Rev. George Dominic Heldmann, C. PP. S., long identified with the publication of The Messenger and Der Botschafter, passed away in 1916.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 4, 1858, the son of German-speaking immigrants. He received his education in classical, philosophical, and theological studies at St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, Wis., and was ordained in June 1881, serving first as assistant pastor at St. Francis’ Church in Chicago.
In 1884 he was selected to organize the parish of St. George, at Wentworth Avenue in Chicago. During the stock-yards strike of 1886, Heldmann worked with Father Dorney. Heldmann visited condemned anarchist Louis Lingg in his cell shortly before Lingg’s suicide.
In 1888, Heldmann left St. George’s and went to St. Paul’s. There he began the parochial school building in 1892, using the firm of Schlacks & Ottenheimer for the design. During the smallpox epidemic of 1893–1894, Heldmann was praised for continuing to minister to the “spiritual needs of the stricken” even when “all other religious attendants deserted the smallpox hospital.” (Douglas Sutherland. “An All Brick Church. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Chicago, Unique in the United States — Built Without Wood or Nail.” The Clay-Worker, vol. 39, no. 3, Mar. 1903, pp. 335-337.)
Heldmann was “in great demand” as an orator: “He has read much, traveled much, speaks with power and fine choice of words, either in English or German, and has a thorough understanding of art, architecture, music, and natural sciences. . . . He is a member of [Chicago’s] Library Board, and at one time was considered for Representative of his congressional district, but refused it.” (Sutherland. “An All Brick Church. The Clay-Worker, vol. 39, no. 3, Mar. 1903, pp. 335-337.)
With the completion of the St. Paul parochial school, Heldmann again employed Schlacks to begin the church, which was designed to “appeal to the affections of the congregation by presenting something similar to those churches they had seen in the old country.” German-American parishioners were used for part of the building process, in an effort to cut costs. Unfortunately, the construction put the parish into serious debt, and in 1903 the archbishop removed Heldmann as pastor. [See: St. Paul Catholic Church.]
He then entered the Congregation of the Most Precious Blood, but overwork finally resulted in a physical strain, and Heldmann spent time at the Kneipp Sanitarium in Rome City, Indiana. Despite his ill health he continued “to write for his magazines and was hopefully looking forward to the time when he would be able to resume his missionary activities.” (“Father Heldman, A Noted Missionary.” Evening Republican, vol. 20, no. 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1916.)
See also: Encyclopaedia of Biography of Illinois. Volume 3. Chicago: Century Pub. and Engraving, 1902, pp. 289-291.