Funeral Mass for Trappist Father Alan Hohl

IC photo/Linda Petersen

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The funeral Mass for Fr. Alan Hohl, OCSO, was celebrated Dec. 21 at St. Joseph Villa in Salt Lake City. Fr. Lourduraj Gregory Gally presided. Concelebrating were Abbot Elias Dietz, OCSO; Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; Father Martin Diaz, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; Msgr. Michael J. Winterer, a retired priest of the diocese; and Father Patrick Boyle, OCSO.

SALT LAKE CITY —Father Alan Hohl, 95, a Trappist monk and member of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville, passed away Dec. 16 after a short illness.

He was born Francis J. Hohl Jan. 28, 1926, in Chicago, Ill. Following high school, he enrolled in the U.S. Navy and became a pilot. After World War II he spent some time using his flying skills as a crop duster. In 1953 he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity. He was solemnity professed on Nov. 11, 1958, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1963.

He had been in monastic vows for 66 years and had been a priest for 58 years when he died.

A funeral Mass for Fr. Alan was celebrated on Dec. 21 at St. Joseph Villa in Salt Lake City. Fr. Lourduraj Gregory Gally, chaplain, presided. Concelebrating were Abbot Elias Dietz, OCSO; Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; Father Martin Diaz, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; Msgr. Michael J. Winterer, a retired priest of the diocese; and Father Patrick Boyle, OCSO.

Before the abbey closed, Fr. Alan’s major responsibility was as infirmarian. He served as the monastery’s superior for a short time and also served as cantor for several years.

Fr. Alan “had the gift of a good voice, and he was very generous to put it into the service of the community,” Abbot Dietz said in public comments after the funeral service.

“Fr Alan was very much an outdoors man; he had grown up on a farm,” the abbot said. With a particular love of irrigation, Fr. Alan could talk for hours about the subject, he added.

“In our tradition being a lover of the place and a lover of the brethren is the best you can say about a monk, and Fr. Alan certainly qualified for that,” he said.

“In all of these tasks he was especially known for his generosity,” he continued. “He would do what you asked and even more, if at all possible.”

The closure of the monastery in 2017 was particularly hard for Fr. Alan, but he adjusted to life at St. Joseph Villa, the abbot said.

Being a monk for more than six decades “is a remarkable thing in today’s world, when commitments often are temporary,” the abbot said. “He was a wonderful model and example of perseverance in what he dedicated his life to.”

Fr. Alan was laid to rest at Huntsville Monastery Cemetery.