Priest Death Notice

Reverend Bernard Sylvester Sippel

April 10, 2024

Father Sippel was born on April 13,1939 in St. Cloud, Wisconsin. He attended St. Lawrence Seminary in Mt. Calvary from 1953 to 1958 and St. Francis Major Seminary from 1958 to 1965. Father was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1965 by Archbishop William E. Cousins at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Milwaukee.

Father was assigned as Assistant Pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Elkhorn from July 7, 1965 to June 17, 1969 when he was assigned as Assistant Pastor at St. Mary Parish in Elm Grove. He was appointed an Ecclesiastical Notary and Secretary of the Tribunal on June 15, 1976. While remaining in that position he was appointed Associate Pastor at Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Milwaukee on June 13, 1978. Father Sippel was the founding Pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in New Berlin which was canonically erected on January 4, 1981 and where Father took his position as Pastor on April 21, 1981. Father was appointed Administrator of the Pastoral Team at St. Matthias Parish in Milwaukee on August 20, 1991. He then became Pastor of St. Boniface Parish in Germantown on June 23, 1992. He was named Dean of District 6 on August 28, 1995. Father retired from active ministry on June 30, 2007 but continued serving the Tribunal and offered ministry as Assisting Priest at St. James Parish in Franklin beginning on June 16, 2009. He resumed full Senior Priest status in 2022. In addition to his various parish ministries, Father Sippel served in the Wisconsin National Guard from 1968 to 1988 rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Sippel will be celebrated at Our Lady of the Holyland Parish, St. Cloud site, 924 S. Main Street, St. Cloud, WI 53079 on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 10:00 AM. Priest classmates and friends are invited to concelebrate. Please bring an alb and white stole. Visitation will take place at the parish on Monday, April 15, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM and again on Tuesday morning from 8:30 to 9:30. Burial will take place at St. Cloud Cemetery.

Members of the Purgatorial Society will please offer the prescribed Mass for the repose of his soul and include Father Sippel’s intention in the General Intercessions at the parish.