Archbishop John J. Myers, born in Ottawa in 1941, died in Ottawa this week at age 79 at a senior care facility where he was living.
He grew up in Earlville and began seriously considering the priesthood at college. He was ordained in 1966.
He was Bishop of Peoria from 1990 to 2001 and became Archbishop in Newark, New Jersey in 2001 just before the 911 attacks.
The Pastor at St. Columba in Ottawa, Father David Kipfer, who is from Peoria, knew Archbishop Myers’ since he was a senior in High School because:
After his ordination as a priest, Father Kipfer lived and worked with the Archbishop for five years while he was the Bishop of Peoria until he assigned him to St. Columba.
Father Kipfer describes the Archbishop as a great Churchman with a great love for the Faith and the Church whom he will dearly miss.
Father Kipfer says many of the parishioners at St. Columba knew the Myers’ family because some of the family live in Ottawa.