MADISON — Msgr. Raymond E. Klaas, 82, long-time vicar general of the Diocese of Madison and rector of St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison for 25 years, died on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 11:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 3685 County Road HHH, Kieler. Bishop Robert C. Morlino was the main celebrant with Fr. Lawrence J. Kieffer, Madison, the homilist.
 Msgr. Raymond E. Klaas |
Visitation was at Immaculate Conception Parish from 9 a.m. until the time of Mass. Burial took place in the parish cemetery.
Monsignor Klaas was born on August 16, 1926 in Louisburg, Wis., to Loretta Ann and Raymond Klaas. He attended Immaculate Conception Grade School in Kieler and Loras Academy High School in Dubuque, Iowa. He then studied at Loras College in Dubuque, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946. He studied philosophy and received a Master of Arts in theology from St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, in 1950; he received a J.C.D. in 1960 from St. John Lateran University, Rome.
He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Madison on May 27, 1950 by Bishop William P. O’Connor of Madison. He became a Prelate of Honor with the title of Monsignor in February of 1967.
He served as associate pastor of St. Bernard Parish in 1950 and St. Raphael Cathedral in 1953, both in Madison. He was appointed administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish, Blanchardville, with the missions of St. Patrick, Hollandale, and St. Michael, Yellowstone, in 1956. He was appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish, East Bristol, in 1960; rector of St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison, in 1969; and pastor of St. Mary of Nativity Parish, Marshall, in 1994, from which he retired in 2002.
Throughout his priesthood, he also held the following offices in the Diocese of Madison: notary for the Tribunal, secretary to the bishop and the Tribunal, vice officialis, chancellor, diocesan consultor, vicar general, chairman of the Diocesan Building Commission, member of the Diocesan Services Committee, Edgewood College trustee, member of the Personnel Board and the Presbyteral Council, and protonotary apostolic.