Obituaries

School headmaster, former assistant to New Guinea’s flying bishop remembered

Father Werner Shadeg, 1919-2006

Divine Word Missionary Father Werner Shadeg, 86, died April 5, 2006, at Divine Word Residence in Techny, Ill.

A native of Union Hill, Minn., Father Shadeg was one of 14 children born to Rose and Henry Shadeg. Father Shadeg had two brothers who became priests and five sisters who became nuns.

His surviving brothers and sisters are: Mildred Shadeg of St. Paul, Minn.; Sr. Clare Shadeg, OSB, of St. Joseph, Minn.; Esther Turbak, of St. Cloud, Minn.; Sr. Mary Rose Shadeg, OSC, of Sauk Rapids, Minn.; Sr. Anne Marie of the Eucharist, OCD, of Iron Mountain, Mich.; and, Divine Word Missionary Father Norbert Shadeg, working in Indonesia.

A graduate of the public elementary school in Farming, Minn., Father Shadeg began his missionary training in 1932 at Divine Word Seminary, Epworth, Iowa. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Divine Word Seminary, Techny, Ill., and was ordained there in 1945.

Following two years of teaching classical languages at Techny, Father Shadeg was sent to New Guinea in 1947. There he served as secretary to Bishop Leo Arkfeld in Wewak until 1957, when he was made headmaster of a high school on Kairiru Island.

In 1956, Father Shadeg returned to the United States and earned a master's degree in Education from Loyola University, Chicago. Returning to New Guinea two years later, he continued his service in education, in seminaries and high schools.

In 2002, Father Shadeg returned to Techny to retire after 55 years of missionary service in education in New Guinea.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Father Shadeg at the Techny Residence on April 7, with burial in Techny's St. Mary’s Cemetery.

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