Father Theodor Elting 1819–1862
Theodor Elting, born October 14, 1819, was ordained a priest of the Münster
(Germany) diocese on June 1, 1844. As an associate pastor at St. Lambert
Parish, Coesfeld, in 1849, he met Hilligonde Wolbring and Elisabeth
Kühling.
Recognizing the value of their outreach to the children in the parish school,
he encouraged them to continue their good work as vowed religious. The bishop
appointed him to be the director of the new congregation, whose members provided
care and education for poor children and offered a variety of educational
opportunities to girls and women, from preschool to teacher training.
As director, Father Elting gave spiritual guidance to the sisters and administered
their finances. He also conducted business for the sisters with the bishop
and with the civil authorities. Father Elting taught religion in the
sisters’ school
for the poor and helped prepare the students for their First Communion. He
arranged for the purchase of an estate near Coesfeld, later called Marienburg,
which became a boarding school for girls whose parents could not care for
them. Father Elting served as director until his death from tuberculosis
on December 2, 1862, at the age of 43.
