Father David A. Lemkuhl

In his own words...

My Family Background and Education

Both of my parents were raised in Cincinnati -my mother from an urban area and my father from a farm. Mom was not raised in any particular faith, converted to Catholicism when I was six years old, and became very active in church as the mission commission chair for most of my high school years. Dad was raised Catholic but was lapse when he married my mother.  Soon after my first communion he became a regular church attender - and my family became a "front row pew family."

I was the firstborn and remained the only child for nine and a half years. The age span from me to my youngest sibling is fifteen  years.   I went to Catholic schools from first grade all the way through high school, then attended seminary. 

All in my family were very supportive of my decision to become a priest.  I was in an environment very conducive to growing in faith, sharing faith and prayer. My parents got involved in the charismatic renewal and, I remember my parents
holding sessions with fellow parishioners for the Synod of 1971, a discussion on the Vatican II documents on the Liturgy and Laity.  They were involved socially in card clubs through church as well.  We all helped out at the annual church festival.  We even went on several camping trips with a few families from church.

I entered College Seminary straight from high school and after achieving a BA degree in philosophy, and four years of Theology was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  I also took the MA Biblical Studies program. 

I was an associate priest for ten years in three different parishes in Cincinnati Ohio. I was pastor of two urban parishes in Dayton Ohio for six years.  Then I became an associate priest of the Maryknoll Fathers for eight years, working overseas in Kenya, Africa for six and a half years, which ended in late November 2002.  i returned to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in time to celebrate my twenty-fifth anniversary as a priest - quite a joyous celebration!

My parents remain supportive of my vocation. My mother especially enjoys being a part of the parish communities where I serve and gains recognition as "Father's Mother!"

My Present Ministry

For the past five years I had been working as Pastor of two urban churches in Cincinnati in close proximity - St. Margaret of Cortona and St. John Vianney.  
The Parish Office had been consolidated at one parish location and I chose to live at the other.  I thoroughly enjoy my living situation, having another priest -
Father Bill Cross - to live with in a beautiful, park-like atmosphere on the grounds at St. John Vianney Church.  It is very conducive for prayer and reflection. 

On September7th, 2008, our two parishes merged into one new parish under the name of St. Margaret-St. John, and I officially became its first pastor! It is a time of great hope and excitement. Our Parish of St. Margaret-St. John has a Catholic Elementary School - Prince of Peace, and on the grounds where I reside we have a lease arrangement with a Catholic Montessori school - Queen of Angels.  I enjoy the two weekly children’s liturgies, and of course, the liturgies with our adult parishioners.

Persons, Events and Experiences, which have helped shape my life...

I have been a friend of the Willig family for over thirty years.  They had eleven children, one of whom - Jim Willig - became a priest.  He was two years ahead of me throughout seminary.  He and his family were most supportive when my parents separated and divorced. 

From 1999 - 2001 Father Jim Willig suffered with cancer.  I was extremely fortunate be around him often during the last six weeks of his life.  The prayer and story-telling gathering at his bedside with his family members the night before he died will always be a lasting memory of the Willig family at their best.  Jim's love for the Cross of Christ and the Eucharist really touched me and continues to this day.

In 1987 I accompanied 16 high school students  to Kenya, Africa (first visit), with a Comboni missionary and the parish youth minister and his wife.  The Comboni priest and youth minister remain two of my closest friends.

That African experience shaped my values and helped me to name named my struggle with the consumerism, extravagance, and waste of our society in America. 

As a result, I became uncomfortable ministering in suburbia where "bigger,
better and more" were the ambitions of most.  I discerned in 1992 after returning to Kenya (second visit) to work as a missionary, which I did from late 1995-2002. 

Many within the Maryknoll community, priests, brothers, sisters, lay missionaries and their associates became a family to me.  Many of the people of Kenya have indeed become a part of my life.  I learned so much from this cross-cultural experience.  Among the highlights are the World Youth Days of 2000 in Rome (when I got to greet Pope John Paul II) and of 2002 in Toronto. 

The Kenyan expression of vibrant faith in prayer, singing, and dancing, left a lasting impression on me.  I know now what it means to trust God and to have hope, having lived and worked among the poor.

Proclaiming the Gospel