Louis Martin Reitz, P.S.S.

November 11, 1929

March 27, 2023

Born November 11, 1929, and raised in Baltimore, MD, Fr. Reitz was one of two children of Louis and Eleanor (nee Hooper) Reitz. He is survived by Nancy D Reitz, wife of his late brother Donald, John G. Reitz, Sara Macek-Folio, Deborah A Reitz, Mary Elizabeth Appleby, and Mary Doyle Lindauer, and thirteen grand nieces and nephews.

Fr. Reitz began his education at St. Ambrose elementary school in Baltimore, MD. He attended high school at St. Charles Seminary, Catonsville, MD. He received his B.A. from St. Mary’s Seminary Liberal Arts College (Paca Street) in 1951. He earned the S.T.B. from St. Mary’s Seminary & University (Roland Park) in 1953 and the S.T.L. in 1955. He continued his graduate studies at The Catholic University of America and earned the M.S. in Library Science in 1959 and then the M.Ed. at Loyola College of Baltimore, MD in 1960.

He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Baltimore on May 28, 1955. He immediately joined the Society of St. Sulpice and was admitted as a member in 1957. As a Sulpician candidate (1955-1956), Fr. Reitz’s first assignment was to teach Latin and Greek at St. Thomas Seminary, Louisville, KY. He then returned to Baltimore to attend the Solitude program (1956-1957).  He returned to St. Thomas Seminary for another year to serve as librarian and to teach English, French, and public speaking. Fr. Reitz came back to Baltimore for three years (1958-1961) at St. Mary’s Seminary & University (Roland Park) to serve as librarian and to teach catechetics and homiletics. He then returned to St. Thomas Seminary again and remained there for the next ten years (1961-1971) serving as librarian and teaching English, public speaking, and music.

Fr. Reitz came back to Baltimore again in 1971 to serve on the faculty of St. Mary’s Seminary, Liberal Arts College, in Catonsville, MD from 1971-1979. There he held a variety of positions but mostly to serve as librarian, vice-rector (1974-1975), and, after the College closed, the director of the Education for Christian Ministries Program (1977-1979). He then assumed his longest assignment in the Province – Treasurer from 1979 to his retirement in 2000. Fr. Ron Witherup, who served as provincial at the end of Fr. Reitz’s tenure recalled: "I always found him cooperative and responsive to the requests of the Provincial Council. He also had a good sense of humor, which sometimes made us all laugh!"

 

He began his retirement with residence at St. Pius X Church, Baltimore, where he had been serving on a part time basis for thirty-eight years. In 2016, he moved to the newly renovated Sulpician retirement community of Villa Olier in Catonsville, MD on September 1, 2016. Fr. Dan Doherty, the superior commented: "What is rather touching to the residents of the Villa as well as the staff is Fr. Lou's deep sense of gratitude. He frequently expressed his deep appreciation for his family and friends, priestly assignments, gracious concern from Sulpician confreres over the years, and generous care that the Villa staff has bestowed on him in his retirement."

In addition to his time in the library, in the classroom, and behind the desk in the treasurer’s office, Fr. Reitz served as chaplain to the Baltimore Fire Department. Most of all, he loved to be on the water of the Chesapeake Bay. For many years he had a house on the shore and was an active member of the United States Power Squadron, a nonprofit all-volunteer national boating fraternity dedicated to promoting safe boating by educating the public and providing advanced education to its members.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Fr. Reitz at Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, where he studied and served for many years when it was St. Charles College. Fr. Daniel Moore, the provincial, presided and Fr. Daniel Doherty, the superior of the Villa Olier Community gave the homily. He was interred in the Sulpician cemetery at Catonsville, MD.