1895 – 1978 (May 31)
Charles Edward Stengel was born December 10, 1895, in Reading, Pennsylvania to Henry Stengel and Catherine Ernst, and was baptized on December 22, 1895 at St. Paul’s Church, Reading. A younger brother, Raymond, also entered the Order as a member of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. Charles received his early education at St. Paul Parochial School, Reading, the Reading Public Schools and at Villanova Prep, Villanova, Pennsylvania. He was received into the novitiate in 1920, and professed vows on June 28, 1921. He earned a B. A. in Philosophy from Villanova College, Villanova, in 1924 and an M. A. in Education from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1927. After pursuing theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood on August 29, 1926.
Father Stengel was assigned to St. Peter’s Parish, Aurora, Illinois, and then to St. Thomas High School, Rockford, Il. When the new Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel was formed in 1941, Father Stengel was affiliated to that Province. He was elected to the first Council of the new Province and was assigned to St. Rita High School, Chicago. Three years later he was transferred to St. Monica Seminary, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where he served as prior and procurator, while continuing to serve on the Province Council. In 1953 he was named Prior at St. Augustine Seminary, Holland, Michigan.
He was transferred in 1962 to St. Rita Monastery, Chicago, where he was procurator. He retired at St. Monica Monastery, Oconomowoc, in 1971.
Father Stengel died of respiratory failure May 31, 1978. He was originally buried at St. Mary’s Hall Cemetery, Villanova. When that cemetery was relocated to the Augustinian plot at Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Father Stengel’s body was moved there.
