Deacon R. William Steltemeier, Jr., Requiescat in pace

I had the pleasure of meeting and visiting a bit with Deacon Bill on my trips to EWTN, and he was always very gracious and encouraging. May God grant him eternal rest. 

From EWTN News:

Deacon R. William Steltemeier, Jr., founding president of the Eternal Word Television Network, died in Hanceville, Ala. on Feb. 15 at the age of 83 after a lengthy illness.

Michael P. Warsaw, current network president and CEO, called Deacon Steltemeier “a man of incredible faithfulness,” noting that only EWTN founder Mother Angelica was more closely associated with the network.

“As a husband, a father, an attorney and in his vocation as a permanent deacon, Bill always remained focused on serving God and serving others,” Warsaw said.

“He devoted himself totally to Mother Angelica’s mission and sacrificed all he had to help her build EWTN into the tremendous vehicle for evangelization that it has become.”

Warsaw added: “While we mourn his passing, we take comfort from his own example of faith and are confident he has heard those words from the Gospel of Matthew, ‘Well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.’”

Deacon Steltemeier was born in Nashville, Tenn. on June 6, 1929. He married Ramona Schnupp on Aug. 22, 1953. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School before entering the U.S. Army and serving for two years in France.

He co-founded the law firm of Steltemeier & Westbrooke in Nashville in 1960. The firm specializes in bankruptcy and commercial law and continues to operate today.


Bishop Joseph A. Durick of Nashville ordained Steltemeier to the diaconate on April 26, 1975. He was among the first American men ordained to the permanent diaconate. 

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