Frank Joseph Rodimer

Frank Joseph Rodimer (October 25, 1927 – December 6, 2018) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey from 1977 to 2004.

Biography

Early life Frank Rodimer was born on October 25, 1927, in Rockaway, New Jersey. He graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School in South Orange, New Jersey, then attended St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.

Priesthood Rodimer was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, New Jersey, by Archbishop Thomas Aloysius Boland for the Diocese of Paterson on May 19, 1951. He then studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., obtaining his licentiate in theology in 1951. He also received a doctorate in canon law in 1954 During his tenure, Rodimer made public his opposition to capital punishment and to permanent replacements for striking workers.

Although he once declared, "I fear for a society which deplores but does little or nothing to address the horrible daily realities which many of our children face",

Retirement and legacy Rodimer retired as bishop of Paterson on June 1, 2004, after twenty-six years of service.

Frank Rodimer died on December 6, 2018, at his residence in St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa, New Jersey, aged 91.