A funeral Mass for Father John L. Hallemann was to be celebrated March 10 at Queen of All Saints Church in Oakville.
Father Hallemann, 87, died Feb. 28 at Mother of Good Counsel Home in north St. Louis. He was a retired parish pastor and the former rural life director of the archdiocese.
Born in New Haven, Father Hallemann attended St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminary in Shrewsbury. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1955 by then-Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter.
Father Hallemann's first assignment was as assistant pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Wilhelmina, Mo. (currently part of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese), 1955-56. He served as assistant pastor of St. John Parish in Gildehaus (Villa Ridge) from 1956-63, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in north St. Louis, 1963-69, and St. Rose of Lima Parish in DeSoto, 1969-73.
He served as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Desloge, 1973-76, St. Rose in DeSoto, 1976-80, and St. Vincent Parish in Dutzow, 1980-92. Father Hallemann was senior associate pastor of Queen of All Saints Parish in Oakville from 1992-2004 and retired, with residence at Queen of All Saints Parish, in 2004. He was assigned to reside at St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood in 2006 and moved to Mother of Good Counsel Home in 2015.
Father Hallemann served on the archdiocesan Rural Life Commission and from 1973-88 was archdiocesan rural life director. He also served with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Human Rights Commission, the Missouri Catholic Conference and its social concerns committee and three terms on the archdiocesan Permanent Diaconate Committee. He was a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Washington Elks Lodge. Father Hallemann loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman and hunter.
He was an advocate for family farms. In an interview published in the Review, he said the family farm "teaches a sense of responsibility. You can hunt and fish; you can learn from nature." He decried the exploitation of natural resources and farm labor and the ownership and control of land by a very few rich individuals and corporations.
Survivors include a sister, Juanita Sternberg of Oran, Mo.