Reverend Lambert Clayton Baeten, O. Praem., age 75, a
member of the Norbertine Community of St. Norbert Abbey, De Pere, WI, and a
Norbertine priest, passed into God’s eternal kingdom on Thursday, March 20,
2008 while serving as pastor of Parroquia Asunción de Nuestra Señora/Santa
Clotilde on the Rio Napo, Iquitos, Peru, South America.
Father Baeten was born on January 1, 1933, in
Green Bay,
WI, to John and Catherine (Heezen)
Baeten. His home parish was St.
Boniface, De Pere, WI.
In 1950, Father Lambert graduated from St.
Norbert
High School, De Pere,
WI. He received a B.A. degree from
St.
Norbert
College,
De Pere,
WI
in 1956 and an M.A. degree from
Marquette
University,
Milwaukee, WI
in 1960 in Liberal Arts/Latin.
Upon entering St. Norbert Abbey, he was vested as a novice on August 28,
1952. He professed Simple Vows on
August 28, 1954, Solemn Vows on August 28, 1957 and was ordained to the
Priesthood on May 23, 1959.
Father Lambert taught at St. Norbert High School, later known as Abbot
Pennings High School in De Pere, WI; Premontre High School in Green Bay, WI;
and Bishop Neuman High School in Philadelphia, PA.
In 1966 he traveled to
Peru
after Pope John XXIII asked for the establishment of missions throughout
Latin America
. He worked in the San
Norberto Parish in the capital city of
Lima
; volunteered for a year in 1970
helping survivors of an earthquake in the
Andes
Mountains
; and a year later established the Parish of San Marcos in San Juan Lurigancho,
just outside of Lima. In 1987 he went to help fellow
De Pere native and Norbertine Rev. Jack MacCarthy with a mission in the Napo
jungle. On June 6, 1988, Father
Lambert became the pastor of the parish in Santa Clotilde located on the Rio
Napo outside Iquitos, Peru.
Except for the occasional visits back home, Father Lambert has spent the
past 42 years serving as a missionary in South America.
Father Baeten is survived by the Norbertine Community; two brothers,
Lawrence (Sue) Baeten, Green Bay,
WI, Earl (Shirley) Baeten,
Edgewood,
KY; two sisters, Blanche (Alvin) Sigl, Naples,
FL, and Eleanor (Jack) Teresinski; nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
