Father Eugene Earl Sitzmann, 90, of Cherokee passed away Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, at Accura Healthcare in Cherokee.
A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Le Mars. Bishop John Keehner and Father David Hemann will preside. Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Le Mars. A come and go visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until noon on Monday, Dec. 29, at Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee. Visitation with the family present will resume from 5-7 p.m. Monday night at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Le Mars. A prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. following the visitation at the church. Military rites will be conducted by the American Legion Post 241, Le Mars. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.
Fr. Eugene Earl Sitzmann, the son of Edwin and Irene (Nugent) Sitzmann, was born June 13, 1935, in Le Mars. His childhood years were spent in Le Mars, where he attended school and graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School in 1953.
He was the youngest of four children. After graduation, he continued working with family interests in their own farm and in custom rented farming.
He joined the Iowa National Guard and in time served in the rank of Sargent, before leaving for seminary studies. He completed the required B.A. college degree at St. Benedict College in Atchison, Kan., in May 1958. The assignment to the four years of major seminary came from then Sioux City Bishop, Joseph M. Mueller, and the assignment was to the University of Louvain, near Brussels, Belgium. All things completed, the Ordination Ceremony, with both his mother and father in attendance, was presided by Louvain University President, Bishop Van Waeyenbergh. The date was July 1, 1962.
Fr. Gene’s pastoral assignments were: Sioux City, Ft. Dodge, Denison, Carroll and in the Cherokee area, Maryhill and Quimby, and was the full-time Chaplain at Cherokee Mental Health Institute for 33 years. And while there he developed an accredited program for training caregivers: The Ecumenical Institute.
Fr. Gene enjoyed traveling, windsurfing and mountain skiing. Most of all, he enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.
Fr. Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin and Irene Sitzmann; siblings: Harold (Shirley) Sitzmann, Merlin (Annie) Sitzmann and Darlene (Elwood) Koopman.
He will lovingly be remembered by his 14 nieces and nephews, and other relatives and friends.
