Remembering Father Elmer Thom

By Monsignor Mark Duchaine
August 17, 2006

It has wisely-and wryly-been stated, "No man is a hero to his valet." Among diocesan priests this sage observation is especially true, as we tend to scrutinize each other's accomplishments with a healthy dose of joyful irreverence.

But in the case of Father Elmer Thom, who died in Sioux City on July 22 at the age of 88, his brother-priests are unanimous in their opinion of him as a first-class fellow whose record of achievement was as distinguished as it was enviable.

Small of stature but big in heart, with a soft high-pitched voice that seemed to bespeak a childlike love for life, Father Thom was one priest whose presence at table was always welcome. With a sardonic sense of humor, his commentary and witticisms would deflate earthly pride and underscore human foibles ... including his own.

For all of that, Father Thom was not given to verbosity-especially when it came to the written word. In sixty-three years of priestly ministry in the Diocese of Sioux City there is in his file only one piece of correspondence bearing his signature. Surely, that must be a record! To adopt his own style, I might piquantly note that this letter was dated in mid-1975, about halfway through Father Thom's priestly life, as if at that point he concluded it was time to go on the record with the chancery at least one time.

But it would be a serious mistake if the reader concluded that Father Thom was merely a raconteur. His ministry encompassed the fullness of what it means to be a priest: assistant pastor, teacher and school administrator, chaplain and pastor.

When Bishop Joseph Mueller began pursuing his goal of parochial school reorganization, Father Thom was one of four priests-all teachers at Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City (the others being Father Leo Lenz, Father Alver Behrens and Father Gerald Kelly)-chosen to pursue graduate studies in education. From 1949 to 1951 Father Thom attended Creighton University in Omaha, and in 1952 he was formally assigned to the position of Principal at Emmetsburg Catholic High School, where he remained for eight very productive years. Bishop Mueller had somewhat humorously underscored the importance of this educational ministry the previous year when he appointed Father Thom to the pastorate at Alvord and Doon: "If you have not as yet acquired your A.M. in education, I hope you will find the opportunity to permit you to acquire this degree because you will not be at Alvord forever."

Following this eventful assignment Father Thom served as pastor in a number of parishes, all of which profited handsomely from his administration: Immaculate Conception in Cherokee, St. Mary's in Spirit Lake, Assumption in Emmetsburg, St. Thomas in Manson, St. Cecilia's in Sanborn and St. Joseph's in Hartley, and finally at Holy Name in Rock Rapids. After retirement in 1992, he lived with brother-priests at the Marian Apartments in Sioux City. His final illness was a time of purification and preparation, and was blessedly brief. Father Thom's life and ministry recall the dynamic years of the Church in the United States following World War II. He served long and well, leaving each and every parish or school in a better position than had been the case upon his arrival. He was a man who loved being a priest, and he was a man loved by his brother-priests.

"Lord God, you chose our brother Elmer to serve your people as a priest and to share the joys and burdens of their lives. Look with mercy on him and give him the reward of his labors, the fullness of life promised to those who preach your holy Gospel. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

(Monsignor Mark Duchaine is Vicar Judicial of the Diocese of Sioux City and Pastor of St. Mary Parishes in Mapleton and Oto, and the author of Living Stones: Priests in the Diocese of Sioux City: 1856-2004.)