Father William Lee Fichteman, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, died May 17. He was 81 and had been a priest of the archdiocese for nearly 41 years.
Father Fichteman, a native of Louisville, attended Church of Our Lady Elementary School, St. Xavier High School and Bellarmine University. He earned a Master of Science in Chemistry from Xavier University in 1965 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1968.
Father Fichteman attended St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind. He was ordained a priest May 30, 1981.
Following ordination, Father Fichteman served as pastor at St. James Church in Elizabethtown, St. Ignatius Church in White Mills and the Cathedral of the Assumption. He served as an associate pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church and as a weekend associate at Epiphany Church.
After retiring in 2011, Father Fichteman served as a senior associate at Our Mother of Sorrows, St. Therese and St. Elizabeth of Hungary churches, as well as administrator pro-tempore at St. Bernadette Church.
He also served as chaplain for Sacred Heart Academy and as the director of Clergy Personnel for the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Father Fichteman was a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of Louisville, served six years on the Board of Nativity Academy at St. Boniface, served on the Board of Overseers of St. Meinrad Seminary for six years, served on the Board of the Cathedral Heritage Foundation (now the Center for Interfaith Relations) for 14 years and he initiated the Archdiocese of Louisville History Center at the Cathedral of the Assumption along with archdiocesan historian Father Dale Cieslik and archdiocesan archivist Tim Tomes. Father Fichteman also served on the editorial board of The Record.
Visitation will be May 24 at Ratterman & Sons Funeral Home, 3800 Bardstown Road, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and May 25 at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. Fifth Street, from 3 p.m. to 6:50 p.m.
The Funeral Mass will be celebrated May 25 at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption. Cremation will follow and his cremains will be buried with his parents in Calvary Cemetery.
