Msgr. Michael J. Winterer

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Msgr. Michael J. Winterer

March 9, 1933 ~ September 29, 2024

Rev. Msgr. Michael James Winterer died September 29, 2024, on the Feast of the Archangels. Saint Michael the Archangel is his patron.

He was born on March 9, 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the eldest child of Lawrence William Winterer and Mary Ellen Mellon Winterer. When he was two, the family moved to Salt Lake City, his mother’s home. By this time they had his little sister Mary Ann in tow.

The family moved into a home that was across from the church and the priests’ home, and the priests and seminarians would often visit for home-baked delights or a cup of coffee.

Michael attended grade school at the old Judge Memorial Elementary School for seven years, until the family moved to Carrington, North Dakota, the birthplace of his father. By this time, his brothers Lawrence and Joe, and another sister, Teresa, were part of the family. His youngest brother, Tony, was born in Carrington.

Michael became an altar boy for Fr. Hart, the parish priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and remembers getting up early in the bitter cold mornings to stoke the coal furnace so the church would be warm for Mass. During this time, Michael thought of the priesthood, but the bishop in Fargo said he should wait until he was older.

The family returned to Salt Lake City in the fall of 1949, but Michael entered preparatory studies at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Mountain View, California. In September  1954, he entered St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where he completed his training. He was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City on April 30, 1960 by Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal, with two other priests, Fr. John Hedderman and Fr. William Flegge.

“My calling to the priesthood was from other priests, whom I observed as an altar server both in Utah and North Dakota,” Msgr. Winterer said.  “It was being around them and seeing their living spirit and care of people that inspired me to become a priest.”

As a newly ordained priest, Fr. Michael assisted at the cathedral until his first assignment as a parish priest and teacher at St. Joseph Parish in Ogden. For the next 15 years he had several assignments in the diocese: at the parishes of St. Ambrose in Salt Lake City, St. Marguerite in Tooele and St. Helen in Roosevelt. He also was the chaplain at the Holy Cross and VA hospitals in Salt Lake City. Then, beginning in 1975, Fr. Winterer spent five years in a contemplative hermitage before returning to the Diocese of Salt Lake City, where he had many assignments, ministering at the parishes of St. Francis Xavier’s in Kearns, St Patrick’s in Eureka, St. Elizabeth’s in Richfield, St. Marguerite’s in Tooele, St. Thomas More in Sandy, St. James in Vernal, St. Vincent de Paul in Salt Lake City and San Felipe in Wendover. He built the new Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City, where he served for 15 years as pastor before retiring in 2011.

In addition to parish ministry he conducted many retreats, served as Dean of the Southwest Deanery and on the Priests’ Personal Board. He also was the diocesan vocations director from 1990 to 1992.

On April 15, 2005, he received a Vatican papal honor from the Apostolic Nunciature of the United States of America conferring on him the title of Chaplain to His Holiness.  

The vigil for Msgr. Winterer will be on Monday, October 14, 2024 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City. The funeral Mass will be celebrated the following day at 11 a.m., also at the cathedral. Committal will follow at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery, 4th Avenue and T Street in Salt Lake City.  

Arrangements entrusted to Starks Funeral Parlor. View the full obituary and share your photos and memories with his family at www.starksfuneral.com