Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, the Rev. Edward J. Brunnert, a Priest of the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette and longtime Pastor in the Diocese of Lake Charles, died on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at 86 years of age and after 58 years of Priesthood.
Fr. Brunnert was born in St. Louis, Mo., on Mar. 20, 1935, the son of Joseph and Helen (nee Mueller) Brunnert. As a high school seminarian, he entered formation for the Priesthood at LaSalette Minor Seminary in Jefferson City, Mo.
Following high school, he studied philosophy at the LaSalette College Seminary in Altamont, New York. He made his first Profession of Vows July 2, 1956, and continued his philosophy studies from 1956 to 1958 at the LaSalette Seminary in Ipswich, Mass. He continued his studies in theology in Rome, Italy, at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum, completing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1964. He was ordained a Priest of Jesus Christ in Rome on Apr. 15, 1963.
Fr. Brunnert completed a Master’s Degree in Christian Spirituality at Creighton University in 1978.
During his lifetime of service to the Church Fr. Brunnert held many positions within the LaSalette religious order including that of Professor at the Minor Seminary, Seminary Formation Director, Director of the St. Louis Provincial Development Office, and Provincial Vicar of the St. Louis Province.
Pastoral assignments in the Diocese of Lake Charles included Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Sulphur), Our Lady of LaSalette (Sulphur), St. Peter the Apostle (Hackberry); Immaculate Conception (Sulphur); Our Lady Help of Christians (Jennings); Our Lady of LaSalette (DeQuincy); and St. John Bosco (Westlake).
Fr. Brunnert is survived by his brother, Fr. Jude Brunnert, M.S.; his older brother, Joseph; and his sister, Theresa Lichtteneger (Ken).
A Funeral Mass was celebrated by the Most Rev. Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church in Sulphur on Thursday, May 13. Burial was in the LaSalette Missionaries’ burial plot at Mimosa Pines Cemetery in Sulphur under the direction of Hixson-Sulphur Memorial Funeral Home.