By Fr. Gary Brethour
Father Ferdinand Boehme was a quiet man. Humble and sort of shy, he avoided the “limelight.” As one of his former parishioners remarked, “He is one of the kindness men I know, and a faithful priest.”
And he made it clear he wanted us to be praying for him as he was dying and after he died. He died, at 7 a.m. Sunday, June 23, 2024 – in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and just a few minutes after he had received Holy Communion, in a few drops of the Precious Blood.
He got his wish. I’ll explain.
Father Ferd called me the evening of Saturday, May 25. The day before, he had been told by his doctor that he had an aggressive thyroid cancer, that it was terminal and he did not have long to live on this earth. During this emotional conversation, Father Boehme asked if I would say a few kind words about him after he was gone. That was so typical Father Ferd. He did not want to be a bother to folks. I was honored. As I teased during the homily at the funeral Mass, I will try.
I was able to spend the afternoon and early evening of Tuesday, May 28, with Father Boehme. Father Steve Major grilled some steaks for the three of us. Ferd’s favorite meal – steak. But already, the meal had to be turned to mush in a blender so he could swallow it.
By that afternoon – just the Tuesday after he called me – most of Father Boehme’s worldly possessions were already sold, given away, or in the trash. Wow. He made quick work of it. But now he was trying to figure out where he would go to spend his last days.
Father Boehme had his two-point wish list or desire regarding this move. He wanted to be near priests to administer the sacraments to him, and he wanted to be very near the Blessed Sacrament. He was very clear about this, and adamant. Thanks be to God; Father Boehme was taken care of by Father Joe Steele at his rectory, in which there is a Blessed Sacrament chapel.
Father Steele said that when Father Ferd did not have priest visitors or parishioners visiting, he was in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. The rectory was arranged so that when he was too weak to get out of bed, he could see the tabernacle through the open door to continually adore Jesus.
I am reminded of so many evenings these past few decades when I would call Father Boehme to ask, “what’s going on?” or to ask a question about how to fix something, or to talk about some Sunday homily ideas or the latest prairie dog hunt. Invariably, he would not answer the ringing phone right away. Later that evening, he would call back and apologize for not having answered. As usual, when I’d called, he had been in the church, praying before the Blessed Sacrament.
This shouldn’t have been a surprise – in fact, the motivation to discern his vocation to the priesthood came from his deep awareness of and devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This was fostered by many holy hours he made before the Blessed Sacrament at the Newman Center in Lincoln, while he was working as a civil engineer.
As a pastor, he returned frequently to making holy hours before the Blessed Sacrament, praying for his family, his parish, and so many other intentions. And praying for his soul. He was pretty focused on God’s mercy and Heaven – for himself and others.
As he made clear, please honor his request, and pray for Father Ferdinand Boehme. Pray for us, Father Ferd.
