Maher, Joe - 1940-2001

MAHER, MIKKELSON

Posted By: Linda Vander Linden - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/27/2010 at 17:02:26

The Rev. Mr. Joe Maher, 61, of Hawarden died Thursday, October 25, at his residence following a lengthy illness.

Services were at 10:30 A.M., Saturday at St. Mary's Church in Hawarden with Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo as the main celebrant. Burial was in Grace Hill Cemetery in Hawarden.

Maher was born June 28, 1940, in Carroll, the son of Neda and the late Martin Maher. He attended St. Lawrence Grade School and graduated from Kemper High School of Carroll in 1958. He attended Creighton University in Omaha and the University of Iowa. He married Connie Mikkelson on December 28, 1963, at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Atlantic. He was ordained to the permanent diaconate of the Diocese of Sioux City at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City on May 26, 1980, by Bishop Frank H. Greteman. He was involved in parish ministry at St. Mary's in Hawarden since that time. In addition to assisting at liturgies, his ministry included parish religious education, marriage preparation and ministry to the sick and terminally ill. In the summer of 2000, Maher's diaconal ministry was recognized when he was awarded by the Iowa Knights of Columbus for outstanding parish and community ministry.

He was named editor of "The Globe" the Catholic newspaper of the Diocese of Sioux City, in March 1981. He also served as director of communications for the diocese. He was a longtime newspaperman having worked at newspapers in Charles City, Council Bluffs, LaPorte, Indiana, Denison and Vermillion. In 1970 he bought "The Independent" in Hawarden and also purchased "The Bee" in Rock Valley and "The Triangle" in Beresford, South Dakota. He sold these papers in 1983. He loved to fish and read.

Survivors include his wife of Hawarden; two sons, Marty and Ryan, both of Sioux City; his mother of Carroll; three sisters and their husbands, Mary and Virgil Baumhover of Carroll, Margaret and Dr. Michael Collins of Omaha and Rose and Timothy Greenwood of Polk; three brothers and their wives, John and Peggy of Cedar Rapids, Bill and Nancy of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Tom and Connie of Dallas, Texas, and many nieces and nephews.

Source: Sioux Center News, October 31, 2001