A funeral Mass for Brother Mark Kammerer, OSB, a Benedictine monk of Saint Louis Abbey, was celebrated at the Abbey on July 6. Brother Mark died June 29 at the age of 73.
Eugene Michael Kammerer was born on Nov. 5, 1948, in Peoria, Illinois, to Eugene and Doretha Kammerer. He was partially raised by stepfather Lyle Williams and by foster parents Agnes and John Speck, remaining close to their daughter Catherine Bailey. While attending high school at Spalding Institute, he was baptized and became an active parishioner of the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Peoria.
After attending Illinois Central College, he served in the military during the Vietnam War, then worked a variety of jobs, including running a pet store and grooming business and supervising a department at Hiram Walker Distillery. In 1988, he joined the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis. He made profession as a monk on Sept. 4, 1989, and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Maryville University in 1998. He taught photography at the St. Louis Priory School for almost 30 years, earning respect from students for his expertise and attention to detail. One student recalled that in the 1990s, he was already predicting, “In a few years most pictures will be digital.”
In the monastic community, Brother Kammerer was a source of information on a host of subjects of current interest. He was fascinated by outer space and would regularly tune in to live broadcasts from NASA online. In his later years, he suffered from diabetes, and after a yearlong struggle with the disease died peacefully in the monastery.
Brother Kammerer is survived by his sisters, Linda Smiddy and Renee McIntyre. Burial was in the cemetery adjacent to the Abbey.
