Father Vincent P. Dentinger - August 8, 2007

Father Vincent P. Dentinger, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, died Aug. 8 at Sacred Heart Home in Louisville after a long illness. He was 79 and had been a priest for 53 years.

A Louisville native, Father Dentinger served as a pastor, teacher and chaplain. He retired in 1998. He attended St. Francis of Assisi School, St. Xavier High School and St. Meinrad Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood in Louisville May 8, 1954.

Father Dentinger taught at Flaget High School and was chaplain to the Xaverian Brothers at the school. He also taught at Trinity High School and was chaplain at Ormsby Village and the Kentucky Military Institute. He also served as chaplain at Veterans Administration Hospital in Louisville for 10 years.

He was pastor at St. Sylvester Church in Ottenheim, Ky., with missions in Stanford and Junction City, from 1978 to 1988. He became pastor of St. Charles Church, St. Mary, Ky., in June 1988, and he also served as administrator of St. Joseph Church in Marion County and St. Francis Xavier Church in Raywick. Father Dentinger served as associate pastor at St. Augustine and the old St. Patrick Church in Louisville, and he was in residence at St. Leonard while chaplain at Veterans Administration Hospital.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the priesthood, and I’m happy that the good Lord chose me,” Father Dentinger said in a 1998 article in The Record. “I am grateful to have been chosen by the Lord.”

Survivors include one sister, Anna Mae “Susie” Barrett; six brothers, Robert L. (Jean) Dentinger, Father Roy E. Dentinger, Richard A. (Puff) Dentinger, Gerald B. (Jane) Dentinger, James L. (Cindy) Dentinger and John P. Dentinger (Delene); 26 nieces and nephews; 49 great-nieces and great-nephews; and five great-great-nieces and nephews.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 13 at St. Francis of Assisi Church. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery.