• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Deacon Francis Werner Jr. died Dec. 26. He was 89.

‘Saintly man’ of Cumberland dies after life of service

January 5, 2018
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Obituaries, Western Vicariate

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

A few years ago, Teresa Files gave Deacon Francis Werner Jr. a brand-new pair of gloves for Christmas. When she noticed a few days later that the longtime deacon and bookkeeper of St. Patrick in Cumberland was still wearing his old gloves, she asked him about the present.

“They were a gift, correct?” the deacon humbly asked his co-worker at the parish.

“Yes,” Files replied.

“And I’m allowed to do anything I want with a gift, correct?”

“Yes,” Files repeated.

Realizing what had likely happened, Files asked if her friend had given the gloves to the poor. The man just grinned, nodded and walked into his office.

“That’s the kind of person he was,” Files remembered. “He was very generous to the church’s true calling.”

Deacon Werner died Dec. 26 at age 89. A funeral Mass will be offered at St. Patrick Jan. 6 at 10 a.m.

Ordained in 1976, Deacon Werner spent all his diaconal ministry at St. Patrick and then Our Lady of Mountains in Cumberland after the Cumberland-area parishes united into a single faith community several years ago.

“He had a very deep faith, but it wasn’t a showy kind of faith,” said Capuchin Franciscan Father Gregory Chervenak, pastor of Our Lady of the Mountains. “He was very unassuming and never, ever drew attention to himself. He sacrificed himself for others.”

Files noted that although Deacon Werner had an important and demanding fulltime position working as a senior accountant in the finance department of Kelly Springfield Tire Corporation for more than 38 years, he volunteered fulltime at St. Patrick as an accountant for much of that time.

“He worked more than 40 hours a week for us,” Files said, “yet he never once accepted a paycheck. That’s on top of everything he did as a deacon.”

Deacon Werner never wasted money, Files said, and he was extremely generous to the parish, the archdiocesan Heritage of Hope campaign and Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland.

“He never spent money on himself,” Father Chevernak said.

A 1946 graduate of LaSalle High School in Cumberland, Deacon Werner graduated from what is now Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg in 1950. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1950 to 1952. He then worked for Kelly Springfield Tire Corporation.

Deacon Werner was active in the Knights of Columbus Council 586 and Alhambra Wamba Caravan 89. He served as the treasurer of St. Patrick’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and volunteered with many other parish organizations.

Father Chervenak said Deacon Werner had a “heart for others,” often visiting the sick. He was also involved in youth camps and assisted at numerous wakes and funerals.

Files remembered that Deacon Werner, whom she described as “extremely intelligent” and knowledgeable about current events, declined to preach homilies because he did not want to draw attention to himself. He also hated to sing in public. Once, when he was required as a deacon to sing the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil, Deacon Werner was a nervous wreck in the sacristy – almost to the point of becoming sick, Files said.

“He told me that he started to pray,” Files remembered, “and, somehow, he went out and did it. He said that it was with the help of the Holy Spirit that he was able to do it. He was very moved by that experience.”

Deacon Werner was a close friend of Bishop P. Francis Murphy, the late western vicar. He was also a nephew of Bishop James Walsh, the Maryknoll missionary to China for whom Bishop Walsh School is named.

In a 2008 interview with the Catholic Review, Deacon Werner said he first met Bishop Walsh in 1938 when the future deacon took a “crash course” to become an altar server so he could serve Mass with Bishop Walsh in his hometown. Bishop Walsh decided to become a Maryknoll priest when Father Thomas Price, one of the co-founders of Maryknoll visited the Walsh family in Cumberland.

Throughout his life, Files said, Deacon Werner enjoyed a nightly glass of merlot. He loved crossword puzzles and walked everywhere he went in Cumberland.

“He was a very saintly man,” Files said.

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org.

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

George P. Matysek Jr.

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Religious sisters played role in pope’s formation in grade school, N.J. province discovers

  • With an Augustinian in chair of St. Peter, order sees growing interest in vocations

  • Communicate hope with gentleness

  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

  • ‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

| Latest Local News |

OLPH’s fourth eucharistic procession, set for June 21, ‘speaks to the heart’

Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95

Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

Radio Interview: Dominican sister at Mount de Sales shares faith journey from astrophysics to religious life

Mount de Sales Dominican sister shares journey after pursuing science, finding faith 

| Latest World News |

Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska

Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes

Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving

UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials

Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska
  • Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes
  • Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving
  • UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials
  • Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says
  • Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’
  • Yes, it’s our war, too
  • OLPH’s fourth eucharistic procession, set for June 21, ‘speaks to the heart’
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en