A funeral Mass for Father Robert L. Corbett, a retired parish pastor, was to be celebrated May 11 at Christ Prince of Peace Church in Manchester.
Father Corbett, 91, died May 8.
Born in St. Louis, Father Corbett studied as a seminarian in Rome, one of the first seminarians to study at the rebuilt North American College, and was ordained a priest there in 1951 by Archbishop Martin J. O’Connor.
Father Corbett served as an assistant pastor at St. Louis Cathedral (now Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis) Parish, 1952-59; St. Ann Parish in Normandy, 1959-65; All Saints Parish in University City, 1965-66; and again at the St. Louis Cathedral, 1966-70. He served as pastor of St. Engelbert Parish in St. Louis, 1970-73; St. Jude Parish in Maryland Heights, 1973-79; St. Joseph Parish in Farmington, 1979-81; and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Florissant, 1981-94.
He was named senior priest in service at Christ Prince of Peace Parish in Manchester from 1994-2001. Father Corbett retired, with residence at Christ Prince of Peace Parish in Manchester in 2001. He remained there until moving to the Regina Cleri residence for retired priests in 2011, then moving to Our Lady of Good Counsel Home and St. Agnes Home.
While in residence at Christ Prince of Peace Parish, Father Corbett spearheaded an effort by members of the parish to spiritually adopt two-and-a-half-year-old Michael Habbe of Rapid City, S.D., his five siblings and parents. Michael, a patient at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, was born in 2003 with a rare heart defect called congenitally corrected transposition and eventually received a heart transplant. Father Corbett encouraged people at all Masses to pray for the family, and he offered updates, including pictures of the Habbes, on a bulletin board in the church vestibule.
Survivors include two sisters, Ellie Klobe and Doris Esswein. Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery.
