Obituary of
Rev. Alfred W. Giebel
The
Rev. Alfred W. Giebel, 60, died June 17, 2007, at home in Anchorage.
A visitation will be at 7 p.m. today at St. Benedict's Church, 8118 Jewel Lake
Road. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Andrew's
Church, Eagle River. Archbishop Francis T. Hurley and the Rev. Michael Hornick
will officiate. Burial will be at 3:30 p.m. at Angelus Memorial Cemetery.
Pallbearers are Daniel Zipay, Eric Helzer, Michael Moore, Michael Penisten, Mark
Kelliher and Richard Pauley. A reception will be at 4:30 p.m. in the parish hall
of St. Benedict's Church.
The Rev. Giebel was born Oct. 27, 1946, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended elementary
school at St. Pancras in Glendale, N.Y., and high school at Molloy High School
in Jamaica, N.Y. He attended Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception
1964-1966 in Brooklyn, and seminary, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree
at Immaculate Conception in Huntington, N.Y., in 1972. He earned a Master's of
Divinity degree in 1974, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 1972.
He came to Alaska in 1975. A Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Anchorage,
he had also served as a diocesan priest in Brooklyn at Our Lady of the
Miraculous Medal and Saint Kevin's, 1972-1975. He served in the Archdiocese of
Anchorage from 1975 until the present. During that time he served at Holy Rosary
Parish, Dillingham; Saint Joseph's, Cordova; was pastor of St. Michael's,
Palmer; pastor of St. Andrew's; pastor of St. Benedict's, Anchorage;and at the
Monastery of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Anchorage.
The Rev. Giebel was a past member of the Anchorage Archdiocesan Finance Council,
the Anchorage Archdiocesan Consulters, past chaplain of the Knights of Columbus
and past chaplain of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.
His interests included ham radio, making sauerkraut for parish October Fests,
gardening, sound Catholic education and working with the youths. He also was a
private pilot.
Wayne Anthony Ross, the Rev. Giebel's friend for almost 35 years, said: "Father
Giebel celebrated his 35th anniversary as a priest recently. More than 200
people attended that celebration. Father Giebel gave 31 of those years serving
the people of the Archdiocese of Anchorage. He had a deep reverence for the
church and the priesthood, and an abiding concern for fostering vocations and
sound Catholic education. He invited Lumen Christi High School to set up its
campus at his parish and was responsible for planning and constructing the
building and gymnasium that the school currently occupies. His life was his
parish and the school and all that was involved in ministry to the people of
both. He often sacrificed his own personal plans and finances in caring for the
needs of his parishioners and the students at Lumen Christi. During his many
years of service in Eagle River and Anchorage, he made a multitude of friends by
whom he will be fondly remembered."
The Rev. Giebel is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Christine and
Charles Harrison, and his brother, John Giebel, all of New York.
Memorial bequests are suggested to the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 2645 E.
72nd Ave., Anchorage 99507
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