MADISON — A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Msgr. George M. Hastrich on Monday, Nov. 3, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Patrick Church of the Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael in Madison. Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, will be the main celebrant with Msgr. Kevin Holmes, rector of Cathedral Parish, as homilist.
Visitation will be held Monday, Nov. 3, from 8:30 a.m. until the start of Mass at St. Patrick Church. Immediately following Mass, a luncheon will be served in the St. Patrick Parish Hall.
Interment will take place at Holy Trinity Cemetery, Milwaukee, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 12 noon.
Monsignor Hastrich, 88, died on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014, at All Saints Assisted Living Center in Madison.
He was born on November 25, 1925 in Milwaukee. After attending Holy Ghost Grade School in Milwaukee, Father Hastrich attended Marquette University High School in Milwaukee. His collegiate studies included St. Francis Minor Seminary and Major Seminary in Milwaukee, where he completed his collegiate studies in philosophy and graduate studies in theology.
Further graduate studies were taken at Gannon University in Erie, Penn. He was ordained by Archbishop Moses E. Kiley on May 27, 1950, at St. John Cathedral, Milwaukee. He received his Investiture of Prelate of Honor on August 16, 2000.
Monsignor Hastrich served the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, Milwaukee; St. Mary Parish, Hales Corners; and St. Mary Help of Christians, West Allis. He also taught at Catholic Memorial High School, Waukesha.
Upon incardination into the Diocese of Madison in 1955, Monsignor Hastrich served as an associate pastor of Sacred Hearts Parish, Sun Prairie, and as pastor of St. Patrick Parish, Doylestown, with the Mission of St. Joseph Parish, Rio; St. John the Baptist Parish, Montello, with the Mission of Good Shepherd Parish, Westfield; St. Ann Parish, Stoughton; St. Joseph Parish, East Bristol; and St. Joseph Parish, Argyle, with the Mission of St. Michael Parish, Yellowstone, from which he retired in 2001. He also assisted the faculty with religious education at Edgewood High School in Madison.
During his years of service to the Diocese of Madison until his death, Monsignor Hastrich served as president and spiritual director of the Latin American Mission Program (LAMP). He was also a confessor to the Auxiliaries of the Blessed Sacrament, Beloit; spiritual director of St. Martin House, Madison; a Serra Club chaplain; and vicar forane for the Lafayette Vicariate.
He predeceased by his parents, George and Clara (Dettlaff) Hastrich; a brother, Bishop Jerome Hastrich; twin sister, Lorrain Cleary; and brother-in-law Robert Cleary.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been arranged for the Priests for Our Future Campaign for seminarian education of priests for the Diocese of Madison.