Installed December 13, 2004 Ordination May 29, 1965 | Successor Joseph G. Hanefeldt Name William Dendinger Term ended January 14, 2015 | |
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Born May 20, 1939 (age 84)
Coleridge, Nebraska ( 1939-05-20 ) Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Island | ||
Predecessor Lawrence James McNamara | ||
William Joseph Dendinger (born May 20, 1939) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Appointed by Pope John Paul II, he served as the seventh Bishop of Grand Island, Nebraska from December 13, 2004, until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on Wednesday, January 14, 2015.
Biography
William Dendinger was born in Coleridge, Nebraska, as the youngest of the six children of David and Regina Dendinger. Raised on a farm, he was a member of the first graduating class of Mount Michael High School in Elkhorn in 1957. Dendinger then studied at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Conception, Missouri, whence he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1961.
He furthered his studies at the Aquinas Institute in Dubuque, Iowa, earning his Master of Arts in theology in 1964. Dendinger was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1965, for the Archdiocese of Omaha.
He then taught at Petersburg and Elgin Catholic high schools until 1970, and obtained his Master of Science in counseling from Creighton University in 1969. Subsequently entering the military as a chaplain, Dendinger served as a base and cadet wing chaplain, member of the chaplain resource board for the United States Air Force Chaplain Institute, plans and programs officer in the Office of the Air Force Chief of Chaplain Service, and then Chief of the Air Force Chaplain Service for over the next thirty-one years. He retired in 2001 as a two-star general, and then served as pastor of St. Stephen the Martyr Church in Omaha until 2004.
On October 14, 2004, Dendinger was appointed Bishop of Grand Island by Pope John Paul II. He received episcopal consecration on the following December 13 from Archbishop Elden Curtiss, with Bishops Fabian Bruskewitz and Lawrence McNamara serving as co-consecrators. As Bishop of Grand Island, Dendinger acted as a suffragan bishop under the Archbishop of Omaha, George Joseph Lucas as of January 2015.
Bishop Dendinger's resignation for age reasons was accepted by Pope Francis on Wednesday, January 14, 2015, after more than 10 years as leader of the Diocese. The same day, his successor, Joseph G. Hanefeldt was announced.