Monsignor Martin Raymond Strempeck, a former Johns Hopkins Hospital chaplain and former pastor of Hydes and Charles Village congregations, died of complications from congestive heart failure Tuesday at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. He was 82 and lived in Bel Air.
Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Martin Maximillian Strempeck, a baker at Stone's Bakery on East Lombard Street. His mother was the former Rose Sobcszak, a homemaker. He attended St. Brigid's School and a high school seminary, St. Charles College in Catonsville.
He then entered St. Mary's Seminary & University in Roland Park and earned a license in sacred theology. Archbishop Francis Patrick Keogh ordained him in 1955 at the Basilica of the Assumption.
He was initially assigned to St. Stephen's Church in Bradshaw, where he was an assistant pastor from 1955 to 1964.
He then became assistant pastor at the old St. Andrew's Church on Washington Street in East Baltimore and served as its administrator for a year before the parish closed and the church was demolished. As part of the assignment, he was chaplain at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1964 to 1981.
"He was well known there as an educator for physicians, aspiring chaplains and students," said Diane Barr, Archdiocese of Baltimore chancellor. "He was frequently consulted on matters of ethical and moral import by hospital staff and students. He was known for his compassion and great charity to all to whom he ministered."
She said that throughout his career as a pastor and chaplain he was also sought out as a confessor, adding that he was recalled for a preaching technique that emphasized how people could live the Gospel in their everyday lives.
"He really did not want to leave Hopkins," said a friend, the Rev. C. Douglas Kenney. "Archbishop [William] Borders asked him twice to leave before he did. The Hopkins administrators did not want him to leave. He spoke to me many times about the joy he knew there tending to patients."
In 1981, he left the hospital and was named pastor of SS. Philip and James in Charles Village.
"He had a steadiness about him. He was a sensible man who was also caring and thoughtful," said Ellen Lee Adajian, who had been his director of music. "We musicians felt lucky to work for him. He had confidence in people and left us to do our jobs."
While there, he directed the church's restoration and the removal of numerous fish-scale terra cotta tiles from the church's dome. After meeting with architects, he had a copper replacement roof installed. Friends said that Monsignor Strempeck climbed ladders and liked leading tours of the underside of the dome to show how water was leaking in — and demonstrating how a whisper would be amplified within its circular chamber.
He also bought an early Macintosh computer and enjoyed demonstrating its use in the rectory.
He was interviewed by a Baltimore Sun reporter at the time of the Persian Gulf War, when there was a surge in church attendance.
"It's nothing new. This is my fourth war, and I can vouch for the fact that people go along in their own ways and don't give God and religion much thought. But when there are stress points … it seems like religion or God is what they look to," he said in 1991.
In 1992, he was named pastor at St. John's Church in Hydes and five years later was named a monsignor.
He remained at St. John's as pastor emeritus until he moved to St. Margaret's Church in Bel Air. He was also a temporary administrator for St. Ignatius in Hickory in 2001.
"He was a wise sage," said his friend, Father Kenney. "People loved to go to confession to him. They stood in lines. He was a voracious reader too and often imparted his learning and insights in his sermons."
Monsignor Strempeck remained active at the Bel Air parish. He heard confessions and counseled his congregants until several weeks ago.
"It broke his heart that he couldn't say a Christmas Mass because of his health," said Father Kenney.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Margaret's, 141 N. Hickory Ave. in Bel Air. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien will preside. Monsignor Strempeck will be buried at his former parish in Hydes.
Survivors include a nephew, Thomas E. Strempeck of Rehoboth, Mass.; and two nieces, Kathy Kleiderlein of Abingdon and Karen Berkeridge of Rising Sun.