On this day in 1889 Aloisius Joseph Muench (MENCH) was born in Milwaukee—the first of eight children born to German-Bohemian immigrants Joseph and Theresa Muench. He grew up speaking both German and English.

He attended schools in his parish, then Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, and pursued further studies at Universities in Wisconsin, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and France. He was ordained in Milwaukee in 1913 and served in pastoral work and as a professor and rector in the Seminary there.

He was elected Bishop of Fargo in 1935, and was called to Europe by the Pope in 1946 to aide in the reconstruction of Germany. He became a Cardinal in 1959, living in Rome until his death in 1962.

Sources:
German-Bohemian Heritage Society Newsletter The Heimatbrie Vol XII No. 1 March 2001
http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-m.htm

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