Fr. Paul Aumen, C.PP.S., of Carthagena, OH, departed this life for Heavenly slumber on the morning of December 15, 2010.
He was born January 10, 1922, in York, to Bernard F. Aumen Sr. and Bertha (Smith) Aumen.
Fr. Aumen entered the Society of the Precious Blood in 1938 and was ordained March 25, 1949. He spent his first years as a priest in parish ministry in Ohio, at St. Joseph Church, Wapakoneta; Corpus Christi Church, Dayton; and St. Mary Church, Hamilton.
In 1954 Fr. Aumen was named assistant pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Columbia, PA. In 1955, he volunteered for ministry in the province's mission in Chile, where he remained for the next 20 years. Fr. Aumen ministered in parishes in Santiago and Valdivia. He was appointed vicar provincial in 1962. In 1975 Fr. Aumen struck out for Guatemala, convinced that the country's extreme poverty and lack of priests made it perfect mission territory for the C.PP.S. Not everyone agreed. Fr. Aumen set out on a tireless campaign to establish a Guatemalan mission. He worked for 10 years, ministering to the people of Guatemala, establishing a seminary, writing letters back to the United States and to his confreres in Chile, before he finally received approval for the work he was already doing and Guatemala became a mission in 1985 and was entrusted to the Chilean Vicariate in 1986. His persistence in the face of complete adversity (he was told once by the province that the mission in Guatemala would absolutely not be approved) was legendary, as was his concern for the poorest of God's children.
Fr. Aumen returned to the United States in 1993, when he made his home in New Oxford. There he entered into the retreat and renewal ministry, and helped in parishes in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA in the Hanover area. Even there, he continued to minister to the people of Guatemala; he published his missionary memories, Springtime in Guatemala, in 2006. Revenues from the sale of the book went to support the people there. Always, his deeply compassionate heart was with the people he served, and in a way he never left the mission he founded. "No one will ever know what it is to be poor until he or she has lived in poverty," he wrote in Springtime in Guatemala. "In fact, there are missionaries who have fathomed the deep sorrow and desperation of those who live this way because they are able to pick up on their heart-wringing anguish. It took me almost three years before I realized that this had happened to me."
Survivors include his siblings and their spouses, Sr. Paula Mary Aumen, RSM, of McSherrystown; Estella Gebhart of New Oxford; Thomas and Brigetta Aumen of Hamilton, Ohio; Bertha Kuhn of Abbottstown; Lawrence and Nancy Aumen of New Oxford; Charlotte Hull of York; and Adrian and Leslie Aumen of Spring Grove; a sister-in-law, Margaret Aumen, Abbottstown; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Bernard (and his wife Bernadette) and Philip; a sister, Theresa DelRosso; and two brothers-in-law, Regis Gebhart and John Kuhn.
Interment: Sacred Heart Cemetery.
He was born January 10, 1922, in York, to Bernard F. Aumen Sr. and Bertha (Smith) Aumen.
Fr. Aumen entered the Society of the Precious Blood in 1938 and was ordained March 25, 1949. He spent his first years as a priest in parish ministry in Ohio, at St. Joseph Church, Wapakoneta; Corpus Christi Church, Dayton; and St. Mary Church, Hamilton.
In 1954 Fr. Aumen was named assistant pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Columbia, PA. In 1955, he volunteered for ministry in the province's mission in Chile, where he remained for the next 20 years. Fr. Aumen ministered in parishes in Santiago and Valdivia. He was appointed vicar provincial in 1962. In 1975 Fr. Aumen struck out for Guatemala, convinced that the country's extreme poverty and lack of priests made it perfect mission territory for the C.PP.S. Not everyone agreed. Fr. Aumen set out on a tireless campaign to establish a Guatemalan mission. He worked for 10 years, ministering to the people of Guatemala, establishing a seminary, writing letters back to the United States and to his confreres in Chile, before he finally received approval for the work he was already doing and Guatemala became a mission in 1985 and was entrusted to the Chilean Vicariate in 1986. His persistence in the face of complete adversity (he was told once by the province that the mission in Guatemala would absolutely not be approved) was legendary, as was his concern for the poorest of God's children.
Fr. Aumen returned to the United States in 1993, when he made his home in New Oxford. There he entered into the retreat and renewal ministry, and helped in parishes in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA in the Hanover area. Even there, he continued to minister to the people of Guatemala; he published his missionary memories, Springtime in Guatemala, in 2006. Revenues from the sale of the book went to support the people there. Always, his deeply compassionate heart was with the people he served, and in a way he never left the mission he founded. "No one will ever know what it is to be poor until he or she has lived in poverty," he wrote in Springtime in Guatemala. "In fact, there are missionaries who have fathomed the deep sorrow and desperation of those who live this way because they are able to pick up on their heart-wringing anguish. It took me almost three years before I realized that this had happened to me."
Survivors include his siblings and their spouses, Sr. Paula Mary Aumen, RSM, of McSherrystown; Estella Gebhart of New Oxford; Thomas and Brigetta Aumen of Hamilton, Ohio; Bertha Kuhn of Abbottstown; Lawrence and Nancy Aumen of New Oxford; Charlotte Hull of York; and Adrian and Leslie Aumen of Spring Grove; a sister-in-law, Margaret Aumen, Abbottstown; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Bernard (and his wife Bernadette) and Philip; a sister, Theresa DelRosso; and two brothers-in-law, Regis Gebhart and John Kuhn.
Interment: Sacred Heart Cemetery.
Fr. Paul Aumen, C.PP.S., of Carthagena, OH, departed this life for Heavenly slumber on the morning of December 15, 2010.
He was born January 10, 1922, in York, to Bernard F. Aumen Sr. and Bertha (Smith) Aumen.
Fr. Aumen entered the Society of the Precious Blood in 1938 and was ordained March 25, 1949. He spent his first years as a priest in parish ministry in Ohio, at St. Joseph Church, Wapakoneta; Corpus Christi Church, Dayton; and St. Mary Church, Hamilton.
In 1954 Fr. Aumen was named assistant pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Columbia, PA. In 1955, he volunteered for ministry in the province's mission in Chile, where he remained for the next 20 years. Fr. Aumen ministered in parishes in Santiago and Valdivia. He was appointed vicar provincial in 1962. In 1975 Fr. Aumen struck out for Guatemala, convinced that the country's extreme poverty and lack of priests made it perfect mission territory for the C.PP.S. Not everyone agreed. Fr. Aumen set out on a tireless campaign to establish a Guatemalan mission. He worked for 10 years, ministering to the people of Guatemala, establishing a seminary, writing letters back to the United States and to his confreres in Chile, before he finally received approval for the work he was already doing and Guatemala became a mission in 1985 and was entrusted to the Chilean Vicariate in 1986. His persistence in the face of complete adversity (he was told once by the province that the mission in Guatemala would absolutely not be approved) was legendary, as was his concern for the poorest of God's children.
Fr. Aumen returned to the United States in 1993, when he made his home in New Oxford. There he entered into the retreat and renewal ministry, and helped in parishes in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA in the Hanover area. Even there, he continued to minister to the people of Guatemala; he published his missionary memories, Springtime in Guatemala, in 2006. Revenues from the sale of the book went to support the people there. Always, his deeply compassionate heart was with the people he served, and in a way he never left the mission he founded. "No one will ever know what it is to be poor until he or she has lived in poverty," he wrote in Springtime in Guatemala. "In fact, there are missionaries who have fathomed the deep sorrow and desperation of those who live this way because they are able to pick up on their heart-wringing anguish. It took me almost three years before I realized that this had happened to me."
Survivors include his siblings and their spouses, Sr. Paula Mary Aumen, RSM, of McSherrystown; Estella Gebhart of New Oxford; Thomas and Brigetta Aumen of Hamilton, Ohio; Bertha Kuhn of Abbottstown; Lawrence and Nancy Aumen of New Oxford; Charlotte Hull of York; and Adrian and Leslie Aumen of Spring Grove; a sister-in-law, Margaret Aumen, Abbottstown; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Bernard (and his wife Bernadette) and Philip; a sister, Theresa DelRosso; and two brothers-in-law, Regis Gebhart and John Kuhn.
Interment: Sacred Heart Cemetery.
He was born January 10, 1922, in York, to Bernard F. Aumen Sr. and Bertha (Smith) Aumen.
Fr. Aumen entered the Society of the Precious Blood in 1938 and was ordained March 25, 1949. He spent his first years as a priest in parish ministry in Ohio, at St. Joseph Church, Wapakoneta; Corpus Christi Church, Dayton; and St. Mary Church, Hamilton.
In 1954 Fr. Aumen was named assistant pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Columbia, PA. In 1955, he volunteered for ministry in the province's mission in Chile, where he remained for the next 20 years. Fr. Aumen ministered in parishes in Santiago and Valdivia. He was appointed vicar provincial in 1962. In 1975 Fr. Aumen struck out for Guatemala, convinced that the country's extreme poverty and lack of priests made it perfect mission territory for the C.PP.S. Not everyone agreed. Fr. Aumen set out on a tireless campaign to establish a Guatemalan mission. He worked for 10 years, ministering to the people of Guatemala, establishing a seminary, writing letters back to the United States and to his confreres in Chile, before he finally received approval for the work he was already doing and Guatemala became a mission in 1985 and was entrusted to the Chilean Vicariate in 1986. His persistence in the face of complete adversity (he was told once by the province that the mission in Guatemala would absolutely not be approved) was legendary, as was his concern for the poorest of God's children.
Fr. Aumen returned to the United States in 1993, when he made his home in New Oxford. There he entered into the retreat and renewal ministry, and helped in parishes in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA in the Hanover area. Even there, he continued to minister to the people of Guatemala; he published his missionary memories, Springtime in Guatemala, in 2006. Revenues from the sale of the book went to support the people there. Always, his deeply compassionate heart was with the people he served, and in a way he never left the mission he founded. "No one will ever know what it is to be poor until he or she has lived in poverty," he wrote in Springtime in Guatemala. "In fact, there are missionaries who have fathomed the deep sorrow and desperation of those who live this way because they are able to pick up on their heart-wringing anguish. It took me almost three years before I realized that this had happened to me."
Survivors include his siblings and their spouses, Sr. Paula Mary Aumen, RSM, of McSherrystown; Estella Gebhart of New Oxford; Thomas and Brigetta Aumen of Hamilton, Ohio; Bertha Kuhn of Abbottstown; Lawrence and Nancy Aumen of New Oxford; Charlotte Hull of York; and Adrian and Leslie Aumen of Spring Grove; a sister-in-law, Margaret Aumen, Abbottstown; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Bernard (and his wife Bernadette) and Philip; a sister, Theresa DelRosso; and two brothers-in-law, Regis Gebhart and John Kuhn.
Interment: Sacred Heart Cemetery.
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