Obituaries

Rev. Leo L. Riesberg, age 79, of Carroll, Iowa, died Saturday, March 19, 2011 at his residence in Carroll of an apparent heart condition.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Carroll. Celebrant will be Rev. Msgr. R. Mark Duchaine, Vicar General of the Diocese of Sioux City. Concelebrants will be Rev. Msgr. Roger Augustine, Vicar General Emeritus, Very Rev. Timothy Schott, V.F., Rev. Timothy Johnson, Rev. Gerald Fisch and other priests of the Sioux City Diocese. Homilist will be Rev. Timothy Johnson. Lector for the funeral Mass will be Sister Linda Riesberg, F.S.P.A. Gift Bearers will be Sandi Riesberg and Sharon Hubert. Music will be by Barb McDermott and the Holy Spirit Choir with John Wagner as the soloist. Casket Bearers will be Marvin Glass, Don Ferneding, Kenneth Willenborg, Alan Schweers, Robert Riesberg and Eugene Riesberg. Burial will be at 2 p.m., Wednesday at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Templeton, Iowa.
Visitation will begin at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday at Holy Spirit Church in Carroll. A rosary will be prayed at 4 p.m., by the Carroll Council of the Knights of Columbus. There will be a Christian Wake Service at 7 p.m. at the church. Visitation will resume at Holy Spirit Church at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday until the time of the funeral Mass. The Carroll Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus will form an honor guard for the rosary and the funeral Mass. Memorials may be left at the church for the Kuemper Catholic Schools foundation. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll.
Born on January 30, 1932 at Templeton, Iowa, Leo Lawrence Riesberg was the son of Anton and Mary (Sondgeroth) Riesberg. He spent his younger years in the Templeton area and attended Sacred Heart School. He then attended the College of Our Lady of the Ozarks from 1945-1949 and Conception Seminary in Conception, Missouri from 1949-1953. Father Riesberg received his Theology degree from Mount St. Bernard Seminary in Dubuque in 1957 and obtained a Masters Degree in Education at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He was ordained a Catholic Priest on June 1, 1957 at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City by the Most Rev. Joseph M. Mueller. He served on the faculty of Bishop Heelan Catholic High School in Sioux City from 1957 to 1959. He then served as Assistant Pastor at St. Mary’s in Remsen and at St. Thomas in Emmetsburg. Father Leo’s assignments as pastor included: Christ the King at Dayton and Immaculate Conception at Lehigh, Saint Benedict at St. Benedict, St. Columbkille at Churdan and St. Patrick at Cedar, St. Catherine’s at Oyens, St. Augustine at Halbur, St. Joseph at Bode, Sacred Heart at Livermore, and St. Joseph at Wall Lake, until he retired to the Carroll community in 2002. Other appointments included: Deanery Moderator of the Council of Catholic Women, Athletic Director of the CYO, and Director of the Family Life Bureau. He was a member of the Carroll Council of the Knights of Columbus.
Survivors include his brothers: Lester Riesberg and his wife Angie of Carroll, Anthony Riesberg and his wife Rose of Carroll; his sisters: Lillian Ferneding of Carroll, and Irma Grote and her husband Paul of Carroll; his sister in-law, Hiltrude Riesberg of Carroll as well as many nieces and nephews and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers: Clarence, Walter, Andrew, and Hilbert Riesberg in infancy; his sisters: Elizabeth Willenborg and Helen Schweers; his brothers in-law: Paul Ferneding, Maurice Glass, Bernard Willenborg and Vincent Schweers; and his sisters in-law: Martha Riesberg and Hilda Riesberg.