Br. Joseph Baur, OFM, 97, passed away Sept. 18, 2024, at Morning Start Assisted Living in Phoenix, Arizona.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Br. Joe entered the Franciscan Order on June 10, 1945, made simple vows on June 11, 1946, professed solemn vows on June 11, 1949, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 8, 1952.
Many of Br. Joe’s years as a friar were spent in Native American ministry. In 1953, he was named assistant pastor at San Solano Missions in Topawa, Arizona. He went on to serve in Pisinemo, a small village in the heart of the Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona, and Ajo, Arizona. He returned to San Solano Missions in 1964, before going to minister in the Philippine missions in 1967.
In 1970, he was assigned to St. Joseph’s Mission in Mescalero, New Mexico, before being named pastor of St. Peter Parish in Bapchule, Arizona a year later. Ten years later, Br. Joe became involved in community organizing while in residence at Sacred Heart in Phoenix, and in 1982, became part of the social analysis team for the Order of Friars Minor’s English Speaking Conference.
In 1984, he became pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Guadalupe, Arizona. He was elected vicar there in 2003. He moved to Sts. Simon and Jude Parish in Huntington Beach, California, in 2016. Four years later, he moved St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix. When his health declined, he moved to Morning Star Assisted Living.
Br. Joe is survived by family members, friends and friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Funeral arrangements are pending.