Young Paul Kammen was a sixth-grader when he knocked on the rectory door at Our Lady of Victory in north Minneapolis and asked Father Vincent Colon if he could be an altar server.
“He took the time to invited me to do that, and the next Saturday he trained me [to be a server],” said now Father Paul Kammen, pastor of St. Joseph in Rosemount.
Father Colon, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for more than 65 years, died Feb. 28.
Father Kammen said Father Colon was warm, personable, down-to-earth and cared about his parishioners.
“He saw his priesthood as a true vocation, not a job,” Father Kammen said. He said Father Colon “gave me more of a respect for the liturgy.
“He took the Mass seriously and took time with it,” Father Kammen added. “He would explain why we do what we do. He had a love for the Mass, and he tried to bring people into its deeper meaning.”
Ordained on June 8, 1950, Father Colon served as an associate pastor at St. Peter, Richfield; Holy Cross, Minneapolis; and St. Mary, Shakopee.
He filled a vacancy at St. Timothy, Maple Lake, before serving as pastor of St. Genevieve, Centerville; St. Peter, Forest Lake; Immaculate Conception, Columbia Heights; and Holy Spirit, St. Paul, before his final pastorate at Our Lady of Victory.
Even after retiring in 1993, he was administrator of Sts. Peter and Paul, Loretto, then for another 20 years he assisted at St. Joseph in Rosemount, presiding at weekend liturgies, celebrating home Masses and helping as needed.
“Parishioners here really bonded with him,” Father Kammen said.
Visitation and wake service will be held from 1:30-5 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at Holy Cross Church, 1621 University Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
A Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for 11 a.m. March 7 at St. Joseph Church, 13900 Biscayne Ave., Rosemount, with visitation one hour prior to the Mass.
