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About Father Pat
read My Story: the road that led me to Priesthood
Father Pat sponsors a child. You can too. Click Here for more! + Join our November 2008 Pilgrimage to Italy!
In High School he played Trombone and Accordion, participated in Musicals and was Editor of the De Soto High School newspaper the Treasure Chest.
He worked his way through College playing Organ in Supper Clubs and giving music lessons. During the Summers he worked at Trane Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin in shipping and as a Coil Builder for heating and air conditioning units. He was also a Scoutmaster. During his teaching years he was a Lector at Church. In the Fall of 1976, after four years of teaching Instrumental and Vocal Music in Wisconsin and Iowa, he entered Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His Clinical Pastoral Education experience was in the Day Treatment Center for Out-Patient Mental Health at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. His Pre-CPE experience was at Saint Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee. During his time in the Seminary he volunteered his time at Community Advocates, a consumer empowerment agency at 35th and Burleigh in the inner city of Milwaukee. He also sang in the Father's Four Barbershop Quartet throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. For four years he directed the Madison Carolers, a group of Seminarians and Priests who sang throughout the Diocese of Madison at Christmas time.
Father Pat was Ordained to the Diaconate by Archbishop Rembert Weakland on 28 April 1979. He served as a Deacon at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in West Allis, Wisconsin. Archbishop Weakland Ordained him to the Priesthood on 16 May 1980. On that day Archbishop Rembert Weakland named him Associate Pastor of Saint Mary Catholic Parish in Burlington, Wisconsin, In 1996 Bishop John Paul named Father Pat Associate Pastor of Saint James Church in La Crosse, in 1987 Associate Pastor of Saint Patrick Church in Mauston, Wisconsin. In 1990 Bishop John Paul named him pastor of three parishes ... Saint Jerome/Wonewoc, Saint Theresa/Union Center and Saint Patrick/Elroy. During his time in Burlington he sang in a 50's Group called "Chip and the Dips." He has been active in community efforts to unite parents, school and local officials to present a united front against the abuse of alcohol and other drugs.
He has been part of the Pastoral Congress of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York and was a presenter at the National Convention of the National Association for Catholic Communicators in Las Vegas. He was part of the Communications Preparatory Communication for the Fifth Synod of the Diocese of La Crosse. He is a member of the Religion Curriculum Committee for the Diocese of La Crosse. Click here for Lecture and Workshop possibilities.
Father Pat's Web Ministry has been featured in USA Today, the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel and around the USA and Canada in articles carried by the Scripps Howard News Service, Saint Anthony Messenger, National Catholic Register, the Ligourian, Catholic Newspapers of the La Crosse and Green Bay Dioceses and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and many other Catholic publications. He has appeared on Television in the Dioceses of La Crosse and Winona and on Cable TV Programs in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. He has also appeared on Relevant Radio with Bishop Listecki (Connecting with the Bishop), on Relevant Radio's "Morning Air" with Sean Herriot, and most recently on 26 September 2007 on Relevant Radio's "Morning Air" with Wendy Wiese.
Father Pat is trained and certified in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated Electronic Defibrillation (AED) for adults, children and infants. Father Pat has also received training in First Aid for choking in adults, children and infants.
Father Pat is a member of Priests for Life. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Birthright in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He served on the Community Foundation of Saint Michael Hospital in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center in Arcadia, Wisconsin and is currently a member of the Foundation of Franciscan Skemp Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin,
In July of 2000 Bishop Raymond L. Burke appointed Father Pat pastor of Holy Family Parish in Arcadia, Wisconsin where he worked hard to help build a Holy Family with the members of the former Saint Stanislaus and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishes. He ate lunch with the kids of Arcadia Catholic School every day. He enjoyed teaching and spending time with the students of Arcadia Catholic School and the Holy Family Parish CCD Program.
On 08 January of 2004 Bishop Raymond L. Burke appointed Father Pat Parochial Administrator of Saint John the Apostle Parish in Whitehall and Saint Ansgar Parish in Blair, Wisconsin. On Ash Wednesday, 09 February 2005 he was appointed Pastor of Saint John and Saint Ansgar Parishes by the Very Reverend Richard W. Gilles, Diocesan Administrator.
Father Pat is involved in ministering to the people of his parish, young and old alike. He looks forward to visiting the elderly and shut-ins of Saint Patrick Parish in Onalaska, celebrating Mass with our nursing home residents, teaching weekly at Saint Pat's School and eating lunch with them every day he can. In September of 2006 Father Pat was appointed Bishop LIstecki appointed Father Pat Chaplain to Aquinas Middle School in La Crosse. He continues to serve as Pastor of Saint Patrick Parish in Onalaska and is deeply involved in teaching and the daily life of the 206 students of Saint Patrick School as well as the 450 students in Saint Patrick's Religious Education Program..
On 26 August 2005 Bishop Listecki named Father Pat Webmaster for the Diocese of La Crosse. In 2006 he appointed Father Pat chairperson of a committee to recommend software for parish and diocesan use and reduce paperwork and mail within the Diocese. In August of 2006 Bishop Listecki appointed Father Pat to the Personnel Council of the Diocese of La Crosse. In late August Father Pat was appointed to the Deacon Personnel Council of the Diocese of La Crosse. On 30 November 2006, the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Bishop Listecki appointed Father Pat to a six year term on the Priest Personnel Council of the Diocese of La Crosse. Father Pat also serves as one the the Spiritual Directors for High School Seminarians of the Diocese of La Crosse.
In 2003 Father Pat led his first Pilgrimage, to Northern Italy, Rome and the Vatican. We visited Venice, Bologna, Florence, Assisi, Siena, Rome and the Vatican. In 2004 he led another Pilgrimage to Ireland. In October of 2005 he led a Pilgrimage of 13 Days to Poland and Prague. In October of 2006 he led a Pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes, Spain, Lisieux and Paris. A new Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is slated for mid-October or early November 2007. Click Here if you're interested! Father Pat drives a Prius.
His parents (Mary Ann and Odell) and grandparents are deceased. His mom died of cancer when he was 21-years-old and his dad in a car accident when he was 25. He is German and Norwegian. His mom said that combination made "Irish," and she gave all the children Irish names. Father Pat has two sisters who live in Wisconsin. Adell (Kitty) is eleven months younger, Kathy 10 years younger. He loves music, technology, gardening and, on his days off in the Summer, fishing! He has a cat named Bugle Boy, now 17-years old. Bugle Boy is a great companion, greets all visitors and keeps the rodent population in the Rectory down to zero.
You can contact Father Pat by e-mail at:
Father Pat's current Web Sites include: Father Pat has also initiated these Sites:
www.stpatzschool.com
www.stbrons.com
The Web Site of Saint Patrick's in Onalaska is here:
Mailing Address:
Father Pat Umberger Saint Patrick Parish 1031 Main Street Onalaska, WI 54650 Telephone: (608) 783-5535
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On April 7th 2008 Bishop Jerome Listecki appointed
Father Pat
Father
Pat Umberger is a Roman Catholic Priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
He was born in Stoddard, Wisconsin on 21 October 1950. He attended Stoddard
Grade School, De Soto High School and received a B.S. Degree in Instrumental and
Vocal Music Education from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse in 1972.
Since there was no Catholic Church in Stoddard, he was never an Altar Boy.
He was, however, a paper boy for the La Crosse Tribune and delivered all the
papers in Stoddard Wisconsin for many years. He has always been interested in
music and started taking Accordion lessons at age nine. He helped his
grandpa on the farm most Summers and started driving tractor at age five, the
same age when he was allowed to play his own Euchre hand.
In 1984, Father Pat bought his first computer through the mail.
He has never had a computer class of any kind. In 1993 Bishop John Paul named
him pastor of Saint Bronislava Parish in Plover,
Wisconsin where he also began a web ministry that included the award-winning St.
Bronislava Parish web site. During these years he began sending a daily e-mail
Morning Prayer that now goes to thousands of people all over the world. He also
began sending weekly e-mails containing the Scriptures for the following
weekend, Reflection Questions and a weekly Spiritual Reflection. If you'd like
to subscribe, just 
Father Pat is a Fourth Degree
Member of the 
In May of 2005, Bishop Jerome Listecki
appointed
Father Pat has traveled throughout the United States, the Holy
Land and the
world. He has visited Rome four times. He has made frequent visits
to Mexico, from Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta and Taxco to Mexico City.
Father Pat has visited Mexico City and Guadalupe 18 times. He studied
Spanish for a month at la Escuela de Lenguas y Cultura de Cuernavaca, México
in 1990 and is now able to ask the location of the rest rooms and the subway
station and to thoroughly amuse the Mexican people. Los verbos son muy
dificil! He knows some German, Italian and a tiny bit of Norwegian.