Father Francis Germovnik, CM

1915–2005

Father Francis Germovnik, CM, was born in Vodice, Slovenia on Sep­tember 27, 1915. He entered the Congregation of the Mission through the Province of Yugoslavia in 1935 and was ordained a priest in 1941. Fr. Germovnik died at St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville, Missouri on November 2, 2005. He was 90 years old. The following comments were offered by Father Ray Van Dorpe, CM.

Fr. Germovnik earned a doctorate in Canon Law in 1945 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in 1945, and a few years later, was one of a small group of Slovenian priests who were sent to teach in the United States. Over the course of the years, he was assigned to seminaries in San Antonio, Perryville, Lemont and Denver. He taught not only canon law, but theology and many languages. Fr. Germovnik had a keen mind for detail and early in his career, when the province needed a librarian, he was the natural choice and was sent to earn a degree in library science. He “straightened out” the library in Perryville when it was moved to the new building in the early 1950s, and in 1964, supervised the transfer of the theology section from Perryville to the new DeAndreis Seminary in Lemont. Whenever accreditation teams came through, they were always amazed at the efficiency and order they found in any library under Fr. Germov­nik’s supervision. Those who were assigned to work in his libraries also have specific memories of his devotion to detail and exacting standards for work.

The stories of his teaching are legendary and are still apt to provoke either peals of laughter or flashbacks of anxiety. He often bragged that he was one of the few people in the world who had memorized the entire Code of Canon Law, and it seemed to many that he expected the same from his students. To say Father was a demanding teacher would be a considerable understatement. Despite all this, his work was greatly appreciated, and his former students often remark how much they were able to retain from his classes.

Fr. Germovnik also had a seldom-seen and amazingly gentle side. The wife of a lay professor, who was working on a library science degree, asked to come by the seminary library on a weekly basis for on-the-job-experience. Her presence in the library happily (for the students) transformed a persnickety curmudgeon into a smiling, easy-going lamb. Fr. Frank also liked “The Muppet Show” and never missed it!

Fr. Germovnik suffered a stroke in 1996 and had open heart surgery in 1999. He experienced a slow de­­­cline in health after that time. Still, he was able to do research, translation work, and correspond with fam­ily, friends, and colleagues across the world. He will be remem­­bered as a conscientious work­er, an exacting scholar and a loyal confrere.

Requiescat in pacem!