Father William J. Menster (February 10, 1913 – April 14, 2007) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest of the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa count ...

. Menster was best known as the first member of the clergy to visit

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

Biography

Born in Cascade,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, Menster was the son of Joseph and Frances Menster. He attended St. Martin's School in Cascade and

Loras College Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree ...

in Dubuque. Menster studied for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Menster was ordained a priest on June 11, 1938. Fr. Menster was then assigned to be the associate pastor of Sacred Heart Church in

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

. During this time Menster joined the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

, and by 1943 had reached the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in 1946 Menster was assigned to Operation Highjump – Admiral Richard Byrd's fourth expedition to Antarctica. He was assigned to the USS Mt. Olympus, and was the only chaplain in the five ship fleet. In 1947 he became the first Catholic priest ever to set foot on Antarctica, and led the first ever religious service on the continent. During a religious service held in a tent set up on land, he consecrated Antarctica. Ministering to 2,000 men of a variety of religious faiths gave him experience in leading ecumenical services. After returning to the United States in 1947, Menster was assigned to Saint Mary's Church in Corwith, Iowa. Menster was named the director of

Catholic Charities The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations. Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spi ...

in 1948, and held this posting until 1958. He wrote the book '' Strong Men South'' as a chronicle of his adventures in 1949. He later traveled to Hollywood where he served as a technical consultant when

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

made a documentary about Antarctica named "The Secret Land" - which was based in part on his book. In 1950 Menster and his father were granted a private audience with

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...

. Menster was assigned to be the pastor of St. Patrick's Church in, Monona, St. Mary's in Waverly, and St. John's in Clarion in 1958. Menster was named the pastor of the St. Donatus

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in 1978. After the expedition he continued his career in the navy. During this time he became involved in veteran's work, and served as the national chaplain of the

AMVETS American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. Th ...

organization. After 25 years of service Menster retired as a full Commander. Menster retired from active ministry, and was living in Dubuque at the time of his death. At the time of his death, Menster was the oldest living priest in the

Memoria

Menster Ledge Hughes Basin () is a large basinlike névé in the Britannia Range of Antarctica which is bounded except to the south by the Ravens Mountains, Mount Henderson, Mount Olympus and Mount Quackenbush. The feature is long and the ice surface descends ...

, a geological feature in Antarctica, is named after Menster in his capacity as chaplain, commander, USN of the flagship Mount Olympus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menster, William 1913 births 2007 deaths American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American memoirists History of Antarctica People of Antarctica Writers from Dubuque, Iowa World War II chaplains United States Navy chaplains People from Cascade, Iowa People from Waterloo, Iowa Christianity in Antarctica Catholics from Iowa 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century American male writers Military personnel from Iowa

Biography

Memoria

See also

References