A beautiful vocation

A chance meeting with Bishop Vincent Ryan changed the course of Fr. Leonard Eckroth’s life leading him to 65 years as a Bismarck Diocese priest.

Growing up attending St. Joseph’s parish and school in Mandan, Father Leonard often thought of a life devoted to religious life. He comes from a large family with 10 siblings and parents who were open to their children following their vocation; two of his sisters and one brother entered religious life.

“When he was young, my dad served Mass for Bishop Wehrle and he wanted my dad to be a priest. He talked it over with his dad, my grandfather, and ended up not choosing that life, of course,” Fr. Leonard said.

His parish was staffed by the Benedictines from St. John’s Abbey based in Collegeville, Minn. leading to many vocations. The Benedictine brothers’ guidance led young Leonard to attend high school and two years of college at St. John’s University near St. Cloud, Minn. from 1947-1952.

On one of the train trips back to high school in Minnesota, he was approached by Bismarck Diocese priest, Fr. Elwood Cassedy, who said that Bishop Ryan was also on the train, and he’d like them to visit.

“That conversation with Bishop Ryan must have got me thinking,” Fr. Leonard recalled, with a smile.

Ordained in 1958

His thoughts shifted from becoming a Benedictine priest to a diocesan priest for his home diocese. He also knew that most Benedictine priests ended up being teachers and he wasn’t crazy about that idea. So, in 1952, he entered St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He was ordained a priest for the diocese on June 2, 1958, by Bishop Hilary Hacker.

Father Leonard’s first few assignments were as assistant pastor closer to home. In 1960, he became the administrator at St. Michael parish in rural Linton. In 1961, he became pastor at St. John in New Leipzig with missions in the small parishes at Sacred Heart in Bentley and St. Mary in Miner (both mission parishes have since closed). He remained there until 1964, when he moved to be pastor in Bowbells and Portal until 1970. Then from 1970 to 1978, he was pastor at Tioga and Powers Lake.

Wherever assigned, Fr. Leonard established himself as a member of each community getting to know the parishioners and their families. He’s an avid outdoorsman so if anyone was looking for a hunting or fishing trip companion, Fr. Leonard was an eager volunteer.

While serving in Tioga and Powers Lake, he got to know a young man named Shannon Lucht who attended daily Mass with his parents. One day, Father Leonard was in search of altar servers since most of the boys who typically serve were in school. So, he called upon a young Shannon who was not even old enough to receive communion at the time.

“Father Leonard is the first priest I remember in my life. I just remember being at Mass with my mom and he came over and asked if I’d like to learn how to serve,” Fr. Shannon, priest for our diocese since 2001, said. “I think it was around my kindergarten year. He had to help me with everything because I was so young.”

Father Leonard became part of the Lucht family. “I’m grateful to my parents for many things obviously, but one thing is that they were always so welcoming to the priests who served our parish and Fr. Leonard visited our home many times. I even have memories of fishing with him and my dad. Our parents made the church our ‘home away from home’ so we were always connected to the parish priest. I remember Father Leonard as an important part of our family.”

Even though Fr. Leonard left Tioga a couple years later, he remains a friend to Fr. Shannon.

“When I was ordained in 2001, I was assigned as an associate in Linton and Fr. Leonard was at Strasburg nearby. So even after all those years, he was there when I first started serving Mass and there again for me ‘right next door’ for my first assignment as a priest,” Fr. Shannon explained.

After leaving Tioga in 1978, Fr. Leonard was named pastor in Huff and Fort Rice until 1987. Also, during this time, he volunteered to serve as priest chaplain at the N.D. State Industrial School and the N.D. State Penitentiary. He enjoyed serving those who were enduring tough times.

“It was a challenging eight years as chaplain,” Fr. Leonard said. “But I felt I was reaching out to those who really needed encouragement and support.”

Longest assignment

Father Leonard’s next pastoral assignment would be his longest at Sts. Peter and Paul in Strasburg that began in 1987 and lasted for 23 years. Here, he also ministered to the people of St. Aloysius in Hague (a mission that closed in 1993) and St. Michael in rural Linton. The Church of St. Mary in Hague was added to his duties in 1989.

He recalled going to the church in Strasburg when he was serving in rural Linton back in the early 1960s and thinking how that beautiful church reminded him of his home church. Much to his surprise, Fr. Leonard was assigned there nearly 27 years later.

“I visited that church in Strasburg for the first time and, right away, thought that it looks like my home church in Mandan, St. Joseph’s. I remember thinking that I’d love to have that parish and then I got it. I already loved that school there and that town.”

Retiring in 2009 at the age of 76, didn’t slow him down. He continued to fill in wherever needed around the diocese. Then, in 2014, Bishop Kagan asked him if he’d like to serve as the chaplain for the Cloistered Carmelite nuns that opened a convent near Hague. Father Leonard jumped at the chance to return to the beloved Emmons County communities where he had served for so many years.

Father Leonard’s return to the area allowed him to reconnect again with Fr. Shannon who was assigned as pastor of the parishes in Strasburg, Hague and rural Linton in 2018. “It was great to be back with Fr. Leonard, to concelebrate once in a while,” Fr. Shannon remarked.

When the nuns closed the Hague convent and departed to return to their motherhouse in 2019, Fr. Leonard “officially” retired.  Now, at age 90, he resides at the home for retired priests in northeast Bismarck and celebrates Mass several times a week at a nearby assisted living facility.

“He’s just a tremendous model of what a holy priest should be: kind, joyful, always smiling, loves the Lord. I treasure that,” Fr. Shannon said. “He’s prayerful and holy, above everything.”

Anniversary Mass May 8

Father Eckroth will be among those honored at a Mass on Monday, May 8 with Bishop Kagan for the priests celebrating their ordination anniversary. Priests recognized this year are: 5 years - Fr. Dominic Bouck and Fr. Jarad Wolf; 10 years - Fr. Patrick Cunningham, Fr. Joseph Evinger, Fr. Thomas Grafsgaard, Fr. Jared Johnson, Fr. Corey Nelson and Fr. Bob Shea; 15 years - Fr. Shane Campbell and Fr. Justin Waltz; 20 years - Fr. Biju Antony; 25 years - Fr. Roger Synek and Fr. James Kilzer, OSB; 30 years - Msgr. Patrick Schumacher; 35 years - Fr. David Zimmer and Fr. Hugo Blotsky, OSB; 40 years – Msgr. Gene Lindemann; 45 years - Fr. Bruce Krebs; 50 years - Fr. Paul Becker and Fr. Valerian Odermann, OSB; 55 years - Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB and 65 years - Fr. Leonard Eckroth.

The Mass will be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck beginning at 11 a.m. The public is invited to attend.