Diocese receptionist retires after 32 years, four bishops

By David Myers

Southwest Kansas Register

That friendly voice heard by a multitude of people who have called in to the Catholic chancery offices in Dodge City over the past three decades has retired: After 32 years and four bishops, chancery receptionist Cathy Gemaehlich said she is “looking forward to a new chapter.”

Gemaehlich was first hired in 1975 by Msgr. Norburt Temaat to serve as secretary for the Tribunal office.

“Bishop [Marion] Forst lived upstairs,” she said. “There were very few of us here. It was like a family.”

Bishop Forst retired in 1976, and Bishop Eugene Gerber was installed as bishop. Gemaehlich was working for Msgr. Felling at the time, when, on a sadly memorable day, Msgr. Felling came to work complaining about feeling cold.

“We were working together, practically side by side,” Gemaehlich remembered. “I brought him a cup of coffee. I was at my desk typing when I heard him collapse. He had had a heart attack. Bishop Gerber gave him mouth-to-mouth, but he couldn’t revive him.”

Gemaehlich has worked with approximately 90 staff members over the years [the chancery currently houses 13]; she’s gone from typewriters to word processors, from regular mail to email, from a human voice on the line to strings of automated voices that still leave her shaking her head.

“You used to talk person-to-person,” she said. “Now you have to leave messages. Technology has sure changed how the Church office is run on a day-to-day basis, especially with the computer.”

She described the second bishop she worked with, Bishop Gerber, as being “very easy to get along with. He loved clowns. He had clowns all over – statues, pictures.”

By the time her third bishop/employer, Bishop Stanley Schlarman, was installed in 1983, Gemaehlich was working as a receptionist.

“He was very outgoing and friendly,” she said. “He loved flowers. He and Sister Angelica Stremel planted flowers out front.”

Gemaehlich would work with Bishop Schlarman for nearly 15 years. She could recall homeless people coming to the door, and the bishop having Sister Angelica cook them a meal, which they would eat under a shade tree in front of the chancery.

And she remembers every person who ever came in the front door applying for a job.

“I could always tell they were applying,” she said. “They’d be holding resume in hand and looking nervous.

“I don’t remember all their names, but I remember what they wore!” she added with a laugh.

“I’ve enjoyed the people,” Gemaehlich said. “I’ve worked with many bishops, priests, lay people, and people from southwest Kansas. It does my heart good to assist people in need, and I take comfort in the fact that I’ve done that for many years.”

Bishop Ronald Gilmore, with whom she has worked since his installation in 1998, spoke fondly of Gemaehlich at the luncheon reception following the Chrism Mass March 29.

A few years prior to being installed as bishop, then-Father Gilmore had visited Dodge City, and it was Gemaehlich’s smiling face that he first saw upon his arrival. And it was Gemaehlich who once again welcomed Bishop-elect Gilmore when he arrived a few years later, just days before his installation as Bishop of Dodge City.

“From the day that Bishop Gilmore arrived,” she said, “he has been very warm and kind to me. It’s been my pleasure working with him. I give a heartfelt thanks to him for recognizing my 32 years of service at the Chrism Mass dinner.”

Gemaehlich, who has a daughter, LeAnn -- vice president of a bank (Commerce Mortgage Corp.) in Kansas City -- and a son, Dean -- Aquila Gas Operations Manager in Dodge City -- said she is looking forward to the extra time she’ll have with her husband, Lee.

“Truthfully, I won’t miss working,” she said. “I’ve worked all my adult life and am looking forward to a new chapter; spending time with my husband is very exciting and a real blessing.”