Conventual Franciscan Father Robert Curtis Kreml
Father Kreml, former pastor of St. Peter Parish, Point Pleasant Beach, died July 4 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was 77.
Funeral services will be held in Port St. Lucie beginning July 19 in with visitation from 4 to 7 p.m. in St. Lucie Church, 280 SW Prina Vista Blvd. A Franciscan wake service will take place at 7 p.m. The following day, July 20, a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m.
Additional visitation hours will be held July 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. in St. Peter Church, 460 Forman Ave., Point Pleasant Beach with a Franciscan wake service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated July 26 at 11 a.m. Internment at a later date in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery, Trenton.
Born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1946, and raised in Phoenix and Las Vegas, Father Kreml earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of San Francisco in 1968. After graduation he enlisted in the Army, stationed in Germany for three years and serving in Vietnam before his honorable discharge.
Father Kreml entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in Lake Forest, Illinois in September, 1972, making his first profession of vows July 28, 1973. He completed his theological studies at St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary, Rensselaer, NY, professing solemn vows Oct. 7, 1975, before earning his master of divinity degree in 1976. He was ordained to the priesthood July 17, 1976.
Father Kreml served three years as the assistant pastor of Assumption Parish, Syracuse. From 1978 to 1982, he attended St. Patrick’s College in Ireland, earning his licentiate in sacred theology, a degree he used as a professor of moral theology at St. Anthony-on-Hudson. In 1988, he began an eight-year tenure as chaplain and campus minister at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C; during this time, he served a term as director of campus ministry for the Diocese of Charlotte.
After taking a sabbatical year, Father Kreml was director of candidates in Philadelphia from 1997 to 2005, when he became pastor of St. Peter Parish, Point Pleasant Beach, ministering there through 2011. Returning to formation work for a few years, he became the co-director of the post-novitiate program in Silver Spring, MD. In 2014, he began his last assignment, as parochial vicar of St. Lucie Parish.
Father Kreml is survived by a sister, brother and sister-in-law, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial Donations may be made to the Franciscan Education Burse, 12300 Folly Quarter Rd., Ellicott City, Maryland 21042.