Father Robert Franzen, then pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham, talks to children from the parish preschool in front of the statue of their parish patron saint. The photo was used on the cover of Catholic Times on April 29, 2007. The feast of St. Joseph the Worker is celebrated on May 1.

Like so many people who knew Father Robert Franzen, my family and I are saddened at the loss of a priest who served so well and so long in this diocese. Father Franzen, who passed away on Oct. 11, was not only the former editor and the head of our editorial board at Catholic Times, but for about 15 years, he was also our family's pastor at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham.

As do all of his parishioners over the years, my family and I have fond memories of a soft-spoken man who lived out his vocation so well for over five decades. We remember his homilies and his patience - and how he would stand long after Mass was finished greeting Mass-goers who wanted to say hello and talk to him for a minute or two. He was one popular guy - it seemed that just about everyone had something important to tell Father Franzen!

Because our large family always had at least one wiggly boy who didn't sit well during Mass, we often sat in the back pew of the "old" church. Trevor, who is 20 now, was one of the wiggliest and Father Franzen probably knew it.

One Sunday, right before Mass started, he came and sat next to our tow-headed little guy, nudged him and said, "I think I'll just sit here today. How will that be?" Of course, he went on to celebrate Mass, but Trevor paid a little more attention that day. Another time he volunteered Trevor to carry up and light some candles. My husband, Jeff, shot me one of those "Oh no!" looks, but in the end Trevor did fine.

Like many priests, Father Franzen seemed to have selective hearing. Many years - and several babies later - he didn't even seem to notice, when during Mass on Ash Wednesday, one of our boys kept saying - loudly - "Mommy, I don't want those ashes on my head!"   

The joke always was that Father Franzen probably thought that after being reassigned from St. Aloysius Parish and School in Springfield, he was going to serve at a small village parish. However, while he was at St. Joseph, the village and parish grew and grew - and grew! Before he knew it, Father Franzen had not only helped start a preschool there, but was building a beautiful new church as well.

I remember him standing out in the open on the blustery day of the groundbreaking ceremony, his white hair blowing around. It was chilly, but he didn't seem to mind. He was so pleased months later, showing this reporter around the almost-completed church when I was taking pictures for Catholic Times.

That was eight years ago. Anyone who was there at the first Mass in the church could see the sheer joy on Father Franzen's face. Building that church had to have been stressful for a 70-something-year-old pastor, but he met the challenge as he did all things, with grace.

Shortly after the new church was completed, our family welcomed our youngest child. It was Advent and after Mass, Father Franzen came to me and said, "We have to get that baby baptized." We set the date right then and there.

A few weeks later, following the 10:15 a.m. Mass, our family gathered around the baptismal font. A couple of parishioners were lingering there talking. Because he knew our youngest wasn't going to wait quietly much longer, Father Franzen invited everyone who was around to pray with us.

He introduced them to our family, explained that Ryan's godparents were his oldest brother and his sister - who were 19 and 17 years old at the time - and that Ryan was a very special blessing in our family. It was a lovely day.

Father Franzen was not only a fine homilist; he was a fan of notes. If you sent him a card or mentioned something to him after Mass, he'd sometimes send a little reply. I remember hearing back from him after expressing my condolences on the death of his friend and golf partner, Father Hugh Cassidy. He said, "Yes, I do feel like I have lost a brother."

Every once in a while one of us here on the staff would get a letter - usually enclosed with a tear sheet of another paper - with a little note in his neat handwriting: "How about doing something like this in Catholic Times?"

In April 2007, I wanted to take a picture of a statue of St. Joseph for the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Father Franzen was just a few weeks away from retirement and was running a little late that day. The children from the preschool were getting restless, but when he arrived Father Franzen leaned over and began talking to them about the importance of St. Joseph. The young ones learned something new that day and I was able to get a really sweet picture that we ran on our cover. I am so glad we did.

As it turns out, our family moved and changed parishes, so that day was one of the last one-on-one conversations I had with that gentle priest. We talked about his upcoming retirement and about Catholic Times and, as usual, he had a few suggestions. I thanked him for all that he had done for the paper and he said something I'll never forget. "I've tried, Diane," he remarked with a modest smile. "For 50 years, I've really been trying."

God bless you, Father Franzen, for everything that you did for the  people you served for all these years. You were loved and admired by so many. And, while you rest in peace we'll keep trying to make this the best Catholic newspaper that we can.

That's a promise.

Diane Schlindwein is a reporter for CATHOLIC TIMES.