Submitted by: Dan Rich

Br. Lewis B. Leimeister, CSC

Nov. 30, 1895 - June 12, 1998

South Bend Tribune 6/13/1998

SOUTH BEND - Brother Lewis Bertrand (Carl) Leimeister, CSC, died at Dujarie House, the Holy Cross Brothers Center, Notre Dame, Indiana, on Friday, June 12, at the age of 102, after a lengthy illness, the longest surviving priest or brother in the history of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Br. Lewis was born to the farming family of Michael and Catherine (Schobe) Leimeister in Huron, Ohio, on Nov. 30, 1895.

On January 23, 1922, Carl entered the novitiate of the Congregation of Holy Cross, taking the name Br. Lewis Bertrand. He made his first profession of vows on January 24, 1923, and his perpetual profession on July 25, 1926.

Though a farmer and gardener much of his life, Br. Lewis taught and prefected between 1926 and 1932 at Holy Cross School, New Orleans, Louisiana; the University of Notre Dame; and St. Charles Boys' Home, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began his agricultural work in Holy Cross at St. Charles, then was later assigned to Silver Lake Farm, Rolling Prairie, Indiana; Sacred Heart College, Watertown, Wisconsin; Moreau Seminary, Notre Dame; and Columbia College (now the University of Portland), Portland, Oregon.

In 1946 he began a twenty-year tenure as gardener at Dujarie Hall, Notre Dame, the house of studies for the Brothers of Holy Cross. He then cared for the grounds of the provincial office and residence until 1968. After a sabbatical he did gardening at Corvilla House in South Bend, Indiana; then at LeMans Academy, Rolling Prairie, Indiana; and Columba Hall, Notre Dame. He retired in 1982, residing at Columba Hall until health and age prompted his move in 1990 to Dujarie House at the Brothers Center, where he remained until his death.

In 1995 a 100th birthday celebration was held at Dujarie House, at which Br. Lewis was festively honored by his brothers in Holy Cross and by his numerous nephews and nieces and their children and grandchildren.

An ardent proponent of natural foods and vitamins, Br. Lewis spent much of his life outdoors caring for livestock and raising fruits and vegetables for the community. His brusque exterior, hardened by the weather, and his penetrating voice, ingenuously direct manner and confidently argumentative approach belied his astuteness and the sensitive and generous heart within. When he could no longer be active, Br. Lewis undertook a ministry of prayer, spending nearly eight hours a day in chapel offering to God the intentions of his brothers in religion along with his own pain and decreasing vision.

Viewing will begin a noon on Sunday, June 14, followed by a Mass of the Resurrection at 2 p.m. in St. Joseph Chapel at the Holy Cross Brothers Center, Notre Dame. Burial will follow. Hickey Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.