Charles Hubert Le Blond (November 21, 1883 – December 30, 1958) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

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. He served as bishop of the Diocese of St. Joseph in Missouri from 1933 to 1956.

Biography

Early life

Charles Le Blond was born on November 21, 1883 in

Celina, Ohio Celina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Ohio, United States about 58 miles northwest of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The population was 10,400 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. Celina is situated on the northwestern sh ...

. He was one of three children of Charles McGinley and Anne Marie (née Brennan) Le Blond. Charles McGinley was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1886 to 1890. Charles Le Blond was a grandson of U.S Representative Francis Le Blond and a cousin of Judge

Frank Le Blond Kloeb Frank Le Blond Kloeb (June 16, 1890 – March 11, 1976), also known as Frank L. Kloeb, was a Democratic United States Representative from Ohio and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oh ...

. When Charles Le Blond was age five, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. He received his early education at the

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of St. John's Cathedral. He then attended St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland for six years, graduating in 1903. Le Blond studied for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary, also in Cleveland.

Priesthood

Le Blond was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a priest for the

Diocese of Cleveland The Diocese of Cleveland ( la, Dioecesis Clevelandensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Pope Pius IX erected the diocese April 23, 1847, in te ...

on June 29, 1909. His first assignment was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St. John's Cathedral, where he remained for two years. In 1911, he was named director of St. Anthony's Home for Boys. From 1912 to 1933, he served as the first diocesan director of Catholic Charities and Hospitals. During his tenure as director, he laid a foundation for the many charitable Catholic institutions in the diocese. In 1930, he was one of the delegates sent by the

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to the Pan-American Conference on Child Welfare in

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. He also represented the National Catholic Welfare Council at the international conferences on social work in

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(1928) and in

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(1932).

Bishop of St. Joseph

On July 21, 1933, Le Blond was appointed the fourth Bishop of St. Joseph,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, by

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. He received his

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consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on September 21, 1933, from Bishop

Joseph Schrembs Joseph Schrembs (March 12, 1866 – November 2, 1945) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan for five months in 1911, as bishop of the Diocese of Tol ...

, with Bishops

James A. McFadden James Augustine McFadden (December 24, 1880 – November 16, 1952) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio (1943–1952). He previously served as an auxiliar ...

and Thomas O'Reilly serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. He took an interest in welfare work in the city, and was active in the annual Community Chest campaigns. During his tenure as bishop, the number of priests in the diocese increased by 30%, and the Catholic population of the diocese increased by more than 3,000. Due to his failing health, he received Bishop John Cody as a

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

in 1954 to manage the daily affairs of the diocese.

Retirement and legacy

After governing the diocese for twenty-three years, Le Blond resigned as Bishop of St. Joseph on August 24, 1956. Following his resignation, the Diocese of St. Joseph was merged with the

Diocese of Kansas City In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

to create the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Charles Le Blond died on December 30, 1958, at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri, at age 75. Bishop LeBlond High School in St. Joseph is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Blond, Charles Hubert 1883 births 1958 deaths People from Celina, Ohio Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Joseph 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Catholics from Ohio