Ninth Pastor of St Joseph Church. 1942-1968.

Rev. Msgr. Bernard Hammerstein served as pastor of St Joseph Church in Gretna for 26 years.  He died in Boynton Beach Florida on May 3, 1982.  He was 82 years old when he died.

His funeral mass was celebrated by Bishop Stanley Ott on May 6, 1982 and was assisted by Bishop John J. Nevins, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami.  Both the funeral services and interment took place in Florida.

Born in Worms, Germany, in 1899, Msgr Hammerstein attended the University of Freiburg and Seminary in Mainz and was ordained in 1923.  He came to the United States that same year and his first assignment was as an assistant pastor of St Ann's Church in New Orleans.

He remained at St Ann for 10 years and then served nine years as pastor of St Joseph's Church in Grosse Tete.  In 1942 he was assigned as pastor of St Joseph's in Gretna where he continued until his retirement in 1968.

During his long tenure at the Gretna parish, Msgr Hammerstein redecorated the church and built a new parochial school and gymnasium.  In 1954, he was named a Domestic Prelate with the title of Reverend Monsignor.

Msgr Hammerstein was West Bank Deanery moderator of the Archdiocesan Union of Holy Name Societies and served as chaplain of the Archbishop Blenk Council of the Knights of Columbus in Gretna. (excerpt from Clarion Herald, May 13, 1982)