QUINCY — Members of Blessed Sacrament Parish recently held a reception to honor their pastor, Msgr. Michael Kuse, and their two senior priests, Father Donald Knuffman and Father Kenneth Venvertloh, for their combined 137 years of service to the priesthood. The reception was held July 24 in the Father McGivney Hall at the Knights of Columbus in Quincy.

All three priests were born and raised in the Quincy area, and attended Quincy and Adams County parishes. In addition, all three have served as priests at Our Saviour Parish in Jacksonville.

Msgr. Kuse was ordained a priest on May 20, 1967. After several assignments, he became pastor of Our Saviour in Jacksonville in 1989. He was named pastor of St. Mary in Quincy in 1996, and was the founding pastor of the newly formed Blessed Sacrament Parish in 2006. He was dean of the Jacksonville Deanery from 1989 to 1995 and has been dean of the Quincy Deanery since 2004.

Father Knuffman was ordained a priest on May 22, 1965. Among his assignments were several years, 1973-1977, as assistant at Our Saviour in Jacksonville. He returned to the Quincy area in 1996 as parochial administrator at St. Dominic Parish, and served as pastor there from 1997 to 2005. After another assignment in Petersburg, he retired to Quincy and serves as senior priest at Blessed Sacrament.

Father Venvertloh was ordained to the priesthood on May 20, 1967. Among his assignments, he served as pastor of the former St. Mary Parish in Quincy and as dean of the Quincy Deanery from 1985 until 1995. He was also dean of the Jacksonville Deanery from 2002 to 2010 while serving as pastor of Our Saviour. On his retirement in 2010, he returned to the Quincy area.