Submitted by: Dan Rich
May 5, 1915 - Feb. 27, 2003
South Bend Tribune 3/2/2003
The Reverend Robert J. Lochner, CSC 87, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Indiana Province, died at Holy Cross House, Notre Dame, Ind., on Thursday, Feb. 27. Father Lochner was born on May 5, 1915, in Cleveland, Ohio. Father Lochner is the son of the late Albert William Lochner and Audetta Marie (Roberts) Lochner, and is survived by a nephew, Richard Lochner of South Bend, Ind.
Father Lochner attended St. Rose Grade School and West High School in Cleveland. Following one year at Ohio University in Athens, he transferred to the University of Notre Dame where he graduated in 1937.
In 1940 he entered the Congregation of Holy Cross and made his first profession of vows on Aug. 16, 1941. Father Lochner completed his theological studies at Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C., and was ordained a priest on June 24, 1946, at Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame.
Following his ordination, Fr. Lochner returned to Washington D.C., where he earned a master's degree in religious education at Catholic University. From 1947 until 1962 he then served at the University of Notre Dame as a teacher in the theology department, was a rector in student residence halls, the director of student aid, a foreign student advisor, and an assistant to the vice president for academic affairs. From 1962 to 1965 he worked at the University of Portland in Portland, Ore. He later served as a chaplain and teacher at St. Edward's High School in Cleveland, Ohio, before returning to the University of Notre Dame where he served as a chaplain to the Holy Cross Brothers, worked in the university archives and assisted in the student residence halls. From 1972 to 1974, Fr. Lochner lived in Guam and served as the chaplain for the University Newman Club. He then moved to Florida where he assisted in parishes and lived in retirement with the Holy Cross community in Cocoa Beach. Because of failing health, Father Lochner moved to Holy Cross House at Notre Dame in 2001 where he died on Thursday evening.
A wake service will be held for Father Bob Lochner, C.S.C., in the chapel of Moreau Seminary, Notre Dame, on Monday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, on Tuesday, March 4, at 3:30 p.m. Burial will follow at the Holy Cross Community Cemetery, Notre Dame. The Kaniewski Funeral Home, South Bend, is in charge of arrangements.