From Most Rev. Ronald Gilmore, Bishop of Dodge City:

"I first met Archbishop Strecker in 1962 on the steps of the Cathedral in Wichita, the very day he was ordained as Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau. There was a gap in the well-wishers milling around him, and we found ourselves alone momentarily. Not a word was spoken. Eyes alone met. But I have never since lost the feeling that I did, in that moment, grasp something of the man.

So I was not surprised when I learned of his lasting concern for our Diocese, in his Wichita years. Nor was I surprised when I heard him described as a priests’ bishop in his Springfield years. Nor was I surprised when I heard of his many-sided concern for the poor in his Kansas City years. Nor was I surprised when I learned from mutual friends the many sterling qualities of his mind and heart. I was never surprised, and I am now saddened to see him gone. Our faith is simple and to the point, however: our prayer can help him, and can make his prayer for us more effective. Let us hold him in prayer, and meet him in prayer, from this day forward."

From Most Rev. Marion F. Forst, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Kansas City:

"Archbishop Strecker was a remarkable gift from the Diocese of Dodge City to the Dioceses of Wichita, Springfield - Cape Girardeau, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. He did a wonderful job."

From Most Rev. Eugene J. Gerber, Bishop Emeritus of Wichita, Third Bishop of Dodge City:

"Archbishop Strecker became what he witnessed from his youth: a human tower of faith and courage who labored long and hard for the land and the people who live on it, the Church and those in it, and the wider human family, especially the weakest and neediest."

From Most Reverend Stanley G. Schlarman, Bishop Emeritus of Dodge City:

Archbishop Strecker was a native of southwest Kansas and served the Church in the Diocese of Wichita, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

The Mass of Resurrection for Archbishop Strecker was celebrated Oct. 21 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Kansas City, Kan. The Most Reverend James P. Keleher, archbishop of Kansas City, presided. Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore was among those who concelebrated the liturgy. Bishop Eugene J. Gerber preached the homily. Burial followed at Gate of Heaven Cemetery across from the chancery in Kansas City, Kan.

Archbishop Strecker was honored for his 60 years of priesthood and his 40 years as a bishop this year on Aug. 4 with a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Abbott Barnabas Senecal, O.S.B., in Kansas City.

Ignatius J. Strecker was born in Spearville Nov. 23, 1917, the son of William and Mary (Knoeber) Strecker. He was baptized in St. John the Baptist Church. He had five sisters and one brother. His parents were the first couple married at St. John the Baptist Church in Spearville.

After attending the parish school, the future archbishop was educated at Maur Hill and St. Benedict College in Atchison, and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Christian H. Winkelmann in Sacred Heart College Chapel in Wichita, Dec. 19, 1942. He offered his first Mass in Spearville Dec. 21, 1942.

Archbishop Strecker's first assignment was as chaplain at St. Rose Hospital in Great Bend, and auxiliary chaplain at the nearby Great Bend Army Air Field. It wasn't unusual for him to preside at 50 to 60 weddings a month at the base.

He was sent to study Canon Law at Catholic University in Washington from 1944 to 1945. Upon his return he served as chaplain at the Dominican motherhouse. Later that same year he was appointed chaplain at the Sisters of St. Joseph motherhouse in Wichita and pastor at St. Mary’s, Derby.

Bishop Mark K. Carroll appointed Father Strecker assistant chancellor in 1946 and then chancellor in 1948. He was made a papal chamberlain on April 30, 1949 and was elevated to the rank of domestic prelate with the title of right reverend monsignor on June 8, 1957. Msgr. Strecker served the Diocese of Wichita as chancellor for 14 years. He represented Bishop Carroll for the 1954 ad limina visit to Rome.

On April 11, 1962, the Apostolic Delegation in Washington, D.C., announced that Pope John XXIII had appointed Msgr. Strecker as Bishop of Springfield - Cape Girardeau in Missouri.

Bishop Strecker was consecrated by Archbishop Edward J. Hunkeler at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Wichita, June 20, 1962. He was installed by Cardinal Joseph Ritter, Archbishop of St. Louis, at St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield, June 28, 1962. He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council and strove to implement its decrees in that diocese. He was instrumental in creating the Ecumenical Center on the Southwest Missouri State college campus.

Bishop Strecker served the Diocese of Springfield - Cape Girardeau for seven years before Pope Paul VI appointed him successor to Archbishop Edward J. Hunkeler in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in 1969.

Archbishop Luigi Raimondai, apostolic delegate to the United States, installed him as archbishop on Oct. 28, 1969, at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Kansas City, Kan. At 51, he was the second-youngest prelate of that rank in the United States.

Archbishop Strecker served the Church as Metropolitan of the Kansas Province until he retired in 1993. In 1999, he published a book entitled "The Church in Kansas, 1850 - 1905."

Archbishop Strecker viewed the growth and development of the Diocese of Dodge City from a unique vantage point. He was chancellor in Wichita when the Diocese of Dodge City was established and the Most Rev. John B. Franz was installed as its first bishop; he attended the installation of the Most Marion F. Forst as its second bishop in 1960, and returned in 1961 for the 10th anniversary of the diocese.

Archbishop Strecker attended the silver jubilee of the diocese in 1976; the installation of the Most Rev. Eugene J. Gerber that same year, and was the consecrating prelate when the Most Rev. Stanley G. Schlarman was installed in 1983. He returned in 1991 and gave the homily at the liturgy celebrating the 40th anniversary of the diocese.

Archbishop Strecker was elected president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference twice. He served in this post from 1975 to 1978 and again from 1983 to 1987, the only person elected to two terms. He testified before the House Agriculture Committee in Washington, D.C. in 1984 during hearings in preparation for comprehensive farm policy legislation. He was a vocal supporter of the family farm and urged congress to work toward a comprehensive food and agricultural policy.

"The fate of our family farmers is not an abstract concern," he told the House Agriculture Committee. "What happens to them will determine whether or not a land-owning elite will increasingly control our food and the price of that food."

He called for "good stewardship," to conserve and preserve the earth’s bounty not only for the benefits of all living today, but for our children and our children’s children.

"Reverence and care for the Creator’s gift of the land and its creatures go hand in hand with loving concern for each other," Archbishop Strecker stated. He also warned that agricultural policy must include preservation of family farms as a top priority.

The archbishop also spoke out many times against the death penalty and had promoted greater Church efforts in the communications media.

A Fourth Degree Class of the Knights of Columbus was named for Archbishop Strecker in Topeka in 1973. Benedictine College presented him with the Cross of the Order of St. Benedict, the institution’s distinguished service award, in 1987.