Deacon Francis Klauder served at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville

By Sean Gallagher

Deacon Francis Klauder, a retired permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, died on June 10. He was 81.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on June 20 at St. Michael Church in Greenfield. The principal celebrant was Father Aaron Jenkins, pastor of St. Michael Parish in Greenfield and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville. Deacon Robert Decker was the homilist.

Burial will follow at a later date at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem, Pa.

Deacon Klauder was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1989. After his wife Lynn Klauder died in 2006, he moved to Indiana to be close to family members who lived here. He incardinated into the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2010 and served at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville and in prison ministry.

Deacon Robert Decker became a friend of Deacon Klauder when the two of them were members of a deacon support group.

“He was kind to everybody that he talked to,” said Deacon Decker, who serves at All Saints Parish in Dearborn County. “He was also a gentleman. But he wasn’t afraid to speak out for justice on some issues that needed a little bit more than just gentleness.

“He wanted to do things the way our Lord wants us to do them, reaching out to one another, to all peoples.”

Deacon Decker also spoke about how Deacon Klauder showed forth Christ in his life and ministry as a deacon.

“We are called to be an icon of the servant Jesus Christ,” Deacon Decker said. “And he truly was a servant. He was a servant to the people in his parish. He did everything he could for the people in the parish.”

Deacon Klauder was also praised by Father George Nangachiveettil, a now-retired priest who served as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville during the same time that Deacon Klauder served there.

“He was a dedicated deacon,” Father Nangachiveettil said. “He was there with every family’s needs, especially at funerals, or at the bedside of the sick. He was a good homilist with fine humor. The people loved him for his presence at the [parish] festival and in the Church.”

Francis Charles Klauder was born on Dec. 10, 1942, in Philadelphia to the late Philip and Margaret Klauder. Following graduation from the former North Catholic High School in Philadelphia, he worked as an officer in the Philadelphia Police Department until 1975 when he then partnered with a brother in a family trucking and warehouse business. He later worked in insurance before retiring in 2007 when he relocated to Indiana.

Deacon Klauder married his wife Lynn, who preceded him in death, on June 30, 1979. They had three children, all of whom survive.

In 1989, he was ordained as a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and served at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Bensalem.

In addition to serving at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville, Deacon Klauder in the archdiocese ministered as chaplain for police departments in Greenfield and Fortville. He was also a founding member of the St. Thomas the Apostle Knights of Columbus Council #15912, which was established in 2012.

Deacon Klauder is survived by his daughters Kathleen Vahle and Michele Lewis, and his son Michael Klauder; his sisters Mary Kay Crockett and Sallianne Tschoepe, and his brothers Dr. Gerard and Philip Klauder, Jr. He was a grandfather of seven.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen, 202 E. Main Street, Greenfield, IN 46140. †