Father Arnold “Michael” Sauber, whose 44 years of active ministry included six rural and urban parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a stint leading the archdiocese’s then-Rural Life Office, died March 11. He was 81.
“I remember he loved to cook,” said one of his three sisters, Nancy Sauber, 74, a member of All Saints in Lakeville who lives with her husband, Timothy Kuntz, in the house their parents built south of Lakeville when she was 10.
He also had a sense of humor, Nancy said. Once, when he was about 14 years old, Father Sauber surprised the family with blue mashed potatoes, having decorated the dish with blue food dye, Nancy said.
Arnold and Ethel Sauber raised Michael, Nancy and four other children in a faith-filled home, Nancy said. Their father was a rural letter carrier and a bee farmer. Their mother was a third-grade teacher at All Saints Catholic School.
The family prayed the rosary together, particularly during May and October, months devoted to the Virgin Mary, Nancy said. She recalled her father kneeling on the floor at home as they prayed, rosary in hand, leaning on the seat of a chair.
Ordained for the archdiocese in 1969, Father Sauber began his priestly ministry as associate pastor of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. He also ministered at St. Agnes in St. Paul, St. Luke in Clearwater, St. Mary in Shakopee, Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale and St. Olaf in Minneapolis. He served twice at St. Joseph in West St. Paul, returning to that parish in 1976.
He served as director of the archdiocese’s Rural Life Office in from 1983 to 1988. He was canonical administrator of Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster from 1999 to 2006.
As a priest, “he was very devoted,” Nancy said. “He loved being in parishes that had schools. He loved children.”
Father Sauber also was an avid reader, his sister said. He enjoyed history, architecture, railroads and mystery novels. He loved classical music and attended many performances, Nancy said. “He has a fairly extensive book collection,” she said.
Father Mark Pavlik, pastor of Mary Queen of Peace in Rogers, said he ministered with Father Sauber for six years at St. Olaf in the early 2000s. Father Sauber served as part-time senior associate there from 2007 until his retirement in 2013, while Father Pavlik was associate pastor after his ordination in 2003, then pastor from 2006 to 2014.
“He was a very old soul, a kind and gentle soul,” Father Pavlik remembered fondly. Not keen on cellphones, Father Sauber shortly after he retired set up a lunch date with Father Pavlik solely through an exchange of letters in the mail, Father Pavlik said.
While serving at the parish, Father Sauber often combined his love of cooking with reading –– stirring a soup on the stove, for example, while reading a novel, Father Pavlik said.
“He was so intelligent,” Father Pavlik said. “He had a vast store of knowledge about anything,” including the monarchy of Great Britain, canon law and literature.
Watching the 2011 wedding of Princess Kate and Prince William with a group at the rectory, Father Sauber did better than the BBC commentators in London naming each person who exited a vehicle to enter Westminster Abbey for the ceremony, Father Pavlik said.
In his mid-50s, Father Sauber developed diabetes. It became increasingly difficult to manage and he spent his last days at Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul, Nancy said.
Funeral arrangements were pending, she said. Updates can be found at whitefuneralhomes.com.
