Father John Brandes

As a child growing up in north Minneapolis, Father John Brandes often had this thought about his future vocation: “I want to save souls.”

Today, as he marks 70 years as a priest, he would say the concept works both ways. One of the joys of his decades of ministry — which took him as far as Guatemala and eventually brought him back to within a mile of the neighborhood where he grew up — has been meeting people in the parishes where he has served, getting to know them and letting them get to know him.

“That’s what I like best — sharing in the life of good people,” said Father Brandes, 95. “That’s the vocation (of a priest). … I’ve always loved being a priest.”

The seed for his vocation blossomed while attending elementary school at St. Bridget in north Minneapolis. A young priest at the parish started a vocations club, which Father Brandes joined when he was in fifth grade. That led to his next step, attending high school at Nazareth Hall, located in Roseville on the shore of Lake Johanna (now a building on the campus of the University of Northwestern).

He continued a straightforward path to ordination, which took place in 1951. He has served at five parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and was founding pastor of St. Rita in Cottage Grove, where he ministered from 1966 to 1972. His other assignments were to the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul (1951-1966), St. Mark in St. Paul (1972-1986), St. William in Fridley (1987-1993) and St. Boniface in northeast Minneapolis (2004-2012).

He took a break from parish ministry in the archdiocese from 1993 to 2004 to minister at San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala, a mission parish of the Diocese of New Ulm. He had considered serving in Venezuela at Jesucristo Resucitado, a mission of the archdiocese, but felt the rural location and cooler climate in San Lucas Toliman would be a better fit. He described the people he served at the mission as “very spiritual” and added that “the scenery is gorgeous.”

Of his 12 ordination classmates, one is still living — Father George Welzbacher, who lives at the Leo C. Byrne Residence for retired priests in St. Paul, next door to The St. Paul Seminary. The two see each other at class reunions, and Father Brandes recalls spirited conversations the two have had over the years on various spiritual and political topics. But a difference of opinion doesn’t diminish the high regard Father Brandes has for his classmate.

“I admire him very much, and I think it’s mutual,” Father Brandes said. “I just think he’s a wonderful old priest, even though he’s so young — he’s almost two years younger.”

Father Brandes continued in ministry long after reaching retirement age. His final assignment began six years ago when he became chaplain at Catholic Eldercare in northeast Minneapolis. That initially allowed him to live in the same building as his brother Ray, who has since moved to the full nursing care unit in an adjacent building. Father Brandes had planned to serve as chaplain until his 94th birthday May 4, 2020, but he retired two months earlier, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now that his official years of ministry are over, Father Brandes has time to reflect.

“I just want to emphasize I’ve always felt blessed to be a priest, and I’ve always been happy to be a priest,” he said.

Today, he considers himself “a corporal work of mercy,” meaning that many of the people he has met and served over the years now reach out to him, either by visiting or writing letters.

When asked to draw from his experience and give advice to young priests, his response was immediate: “Serve people. You’re a servant.”