COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- Father Bernard Reiser, a popular priest for decades at the Church of the Epiphany, has passed away. He lost a battle with brain cancer on Tuesday night. Reiser touched millions of lives, having helped raise millions of dollars to help those in need locally and internationally.
As parishioners enter the church, they're greeted by a classic portrait of Father Reiser, a warm and welcoming image. "I came to mass this morning at 6:30 and I couldn't look at it and just now, I was making a visit in church and I stopped and made myself look at it. It just made me miss him a little bit more," a tearful Doris Schulte said.
Aside from leading the construction of a school, parish, memory care center and assisted living care center for the Epiphany community, Father Reiser is also the founder of Reiser Relief Inc.
The organization has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the impoverished people of Haiti since the mid-90's. Father Reiser remembered his first visit to the country as he talked with KARE 11 about his "Eleven Who KARE" award. "They had no fresh water, they had no food. I said you can't walk away from misery and do nothing," he recalled.
The community, Cite Soleil, has witnessed an outpouring of support from the Coon Rapids church for a decade and a half. Reiser helped build schools, an orphanage, and a place for the elderly. Six days a week, a fresh water truck travels the streets and distributes thousands of gallons for folks to use for drinking, cooking, and bathing. The water is funded by Reiser Relief.
Father Bernard Reiser will be remembered for loving and serving others. He built big things during his life but perhaps he can be best remembered by one word. "Excellent is just a word he always chose to use to amplify what we should be doing with each day of our life," close friend Gayle McMullen said.
When Father asked someone how they were doing, they might reply "okay" or "good". They would stand corrected. Father Reiser now has an excellent place in the hearts of thousands, if not, millions.
"How do you describe someone who has so much in him, and yet, humbly served? That's all he was doing, was humbly serving," McMullen concluded.
A wake will begin at the church on Friday at 11 a.m. and run through 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. A rosary prayer vigil begins on Friday at 7 p.m. and the funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. Hundreds are expected to attend the memorial services.
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