Reverend Anthony J. Suellentrop, Chaplain, United States Navy, Retired, died peacefully at his home on June 8, 2026, in Leavenworth, Kan.

Father Suellentrop was born on July 2, 1946, at St. Rose of Lima Hospital in Great Bend, Kan., to Marcus J. Suellentrop and Mildred E. (Baker) Suellentrop. He was the second of four children.

Growing up in Great Bend, Kan., Fr. Anthony attended St. Rose of Lima and St. Patrick schools. He graduated from St. Lawrence Seminary High School and St. Lawrence Seminary College in Mount Calvary, Wisc., and earned his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from the Braniff Graduate School, Holy Trinity Seminary, at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, in May 1973. He was ordained to the priesthood by Most Rev. Marion F. Forst, D.D., on June 9, 1973, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Great Bend.

Fr. Anthony served under five bishops in the Diocese of Dodge City. Over the years, he served in 18 different parishes and was pastor of ten, including St. Anthony of Padua, Leoti; St. Joseph the Worker, Tribune; St. Joseph, Greensburg; St. George, Bucklin; Holy Spirit, Coldwater; Holy Rosary, Medicine Lodge; St. John the Apostle, Kiowa; St. Boniface, Sharon; Sacred Heart of Jesus, Larned; and St. Bernard, Belpre. Fr. Anthony also served ten years as a chaplain in the United States Navy. During that time, he served as Station Chaplain at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; Unit Chaplain at Administrative Support Unit, Manama, Bahrain; Command Chaplain aboard the USS LaSalle (the Great White Ghost of the Arabian Coast), homeported in Manama, Bahrain, during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Station Chaplain at Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, Puerto Rico; and Station Chaplain at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Fr. Anthony was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Timothy J. Suellentrop. He is survived by two siblings, John M. (Ginger) Suellentrop of Sunrise Beach, Mo., and Ann E. (John) Martin of Olathe, Kan.; two nephews, Jeffrey M. (Mandi) Suellentrop of Boerne, Texas, and Christopher J. (Lacey) Martin of Olathe, Kan.; one niece, Anne Marie (Mark) Wertin of Lawrence, Kan.; and 16 grandnieces and grandnephews. A lifelong learner, Fr. Anthony earned, in retirement, a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, with minors in Art and Music, from St. Mary’s University in Leavenworth, Kan. He also studied for two summers in the Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Visitation will be held at St. Frances de Sales Catholic Church on Thursday July 2, 2026 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at the church at 11 a.m. Burial will be held at Leavenworth National Cemetery. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Rose Catholic Church in Great Bend, Kansas on July 7, 2026 at 4 p.m. Memorial contributions can be made to: School Sisters of St. Francis, 465 Gallagher Street, El Paso, TX 79915 - https://www.schoolsistersosf.org/; St. Lawrence Seminary High School, 301 Church Street, Mount Calvary, WI 53057 - https://www.stlawrence.edu/.

Funeral arrangements provided by

Davis Funeral Chapel

531 Shawnee Street

Leavenworth, KS 66048

Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, June 27, 2026