Seventy years as a priest and still serving the people of God

by Jeanne Gorman
Especially for Het Sourdough

LEAWOOD – Travelers on Mission Road regularly stop here for an older man, dressed in black, who slowly but confidently crosses the street between the parsonage of the Ars pastor and the church.

Father Anthony Lickteig, or Father Tony, as he is known, has served the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, for nearly 70 of his 96 years. He has the distinction of being the archdiocese’s oldest priest and the longest serving in active ministry.

Young Lickteig and his nine siblings were born on the family farm in Greeley, which members of the family still own and operate. Father Lickteig began thinking about becoming a priest at an early age and continued to reflect on his vocation throughout his training.

After graduating from St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, he returned to Greeley and taught school for a year. After deciding to enter seminary, Bishop George Donnelly sent him for his priestly studies at the Pontifical North American College and the Gregorian University in Rome.

Despite his mother asking for somewhere closer, Father Lickteig boarded a ship for a ten-day journey across the ocean to Rome – this was before commercial air travel was common. Due to the long travel time between Rome and Greeley, he remained in Europe during his seminary studies.

During the summers, he and a friend traveled by bicycle throughout all parts of Europe, and he was even able to visit the farm in Germany where his grandfather lived until he emigrated to the United States. After his ordination in Rome on December 8, 1954, Father Lickteig returned home and was appointed assistant pastor at Holy Name Parish in Kansas City, Kansas, where he served until he was appointed pastor at St. Dominic in Holton, where he also became a preacher. served the people at Our Lady of Snows on the Pottawatomi Reservation.

He subsequently pastored a number of parishes and left a large footprint in the archdiocese in the form of the many buildings constructed during his tenure as pastor. After his formal retirement, Father Lickteig became senior associate pastor at Holy Spirit in Overland Park.

However, his most notable contribution to the people he served may be in this current chapter, said Father Richard Storey, pastor of Curé. When Father Lickteig was a minister at the Queen of the Holy Rosary in Wea, he encouraged Storey in discerning his own vocation and completed the paperwork necessary for Storey to enter the seminary.

They reunited in 2009 when Father Storey was appointed pastor at Holy Spirit in Overland Park and Father Lickteig lived there as senior associate pastor. What could have been a challenge with an experienced former pastor working with a younger, newer pastor turned out to be a blessing for both men.

Father Storey soon appreciated the wisdom and good advice of the older priest and asked him for advice on various matters. Likewise, Father Lickteig appreciated the opportunity to continue serving alongside his protégé.

When Father Storey became parish priest at the parish of Ars, Father Lickteig moved with him. Despite his old age and soft voice, Father Lickteig continues to serve the pastor’s faithful and others. He celebrates Mass once a week at St. Joseph’s Place in Overland Park, anoints the sick, hears confessions on Saturdays, and says several Masses on weekdays, as well as a Sunday Mass at Curé, where he is not only appreciated by parishioners, but also by his fellow resident priests and parish staff.

Bob Kolich was parish manager at Curé for several years and worked with Father Lickteig for about a decade – first at Holy Spirit and then at Pastor. Kolich found it easy to work with him. At meetings of the financial council, Father Lickteig spoke only when asked, but when he did he had considerable financial experience to draw on.

Kolich also enjoyed talking with Father Lickteig, whom he considered a living history book with an exceptional knowledge of church history.

Looking back, Father Lickteig believes that the Second Vatican Council was the most important event in the life of the Catholic Church during his tenure as a priest. He thought that the decision to say Mass in the vernacular and to turn the altar so that the priest faced the congregation during Mass were positive changes that were well accepted by the people because they were made with good explanation why they were done.

Although Kolich found Father Lickteig as pastor of Holy Cross a bit intimidating when the younger man was a parishioner there, that was not the case with Curé. Kolich found it easy to work with Father Lickteig, who had a lively sense of humor.

Longtime pastor Barbara McGrath noted Father Lickteig’s discipline and how he keeps track of the family farm by reading grain futures and weather reports. Occasionally he drives to Greeley to check on the farm, where his youngest brother still lives. He spent last Easter there with about 50 of his relatives, including about 20 young grandnephews and nephews, who enjoyed a spirited Easter egg hunt.

Father Lickteig lives a very organized and disciplined life and sticks to his daily routines – getting up early, riding his exercise bike at 4 or 5 in the morning and saying his prayers – all before Mass before 6:30 am.

And he really enjoys being around his parishioners. Otherwise, he says, his life would have been a lonely one. He believes that you should be happy wherever you are.

He advises people to continue their prayer life wherever they are, and the Lord will be their friend and accompany them through life.

Father Lickteig’s life of service has been a blessing to the many people he has led over the years and an inspiration to his fellow priests – young and old.

Father Storey summarizes his admiration for Father Lickteig as follows.

“For 70 years, Father Tony gave his blood, sweat and tears to the church,” he said. “He lived his life with faith, hope and joy.

‘He truly lives the Gospel, for he came to serve and not to be served. He brought and continues to bring joy and peace to all who were blessed to know him.”