PAUL J. LAMMERMEIER, went to his heavenly home on August 17, 2022. Paul spent the last 30 years serving underprivileged youth in Lima, Peru. In 1995 he started the Paul Lammermeier Foundation (PLF) which has served dozens of youth with 3 homes in Lima providing housing, food, clothing, education, as well as emotional and spiritual development.  Prior to moving to Lima, Paul taught at Jesuit high schools St Ignatius in Cleveland, OH and St Xavier in Cincinnati, OH. He is survived by brothers Jim and Ken Lammermeier, dear aunt, Sister Madeline Lammermeier, and many cousins, including Russell Lammermeier. Paul's Funeral Mass will be celebrated in Lima, Peru with memorial services in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Paul will be laid to rest with his parents in Cleveland.

Memorial Mass Monday, October 17, 2022, 6:00 P.M., Chapel of the Holy Companions, St. Xavier High School, 600 W. North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224 and Memorial Mass Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 4:00 P.M., St. Mary's Chapel, St. Ignatius High School, 1911 W. 30th St., Cleveland, OH  44113.

PAUL J. LAMMERMEIER

August 21, 1939 – August 17, 2022

On August 17, 2022 in Lima, Peru, Paul "Pablo" Lammermeier slipped quietly away to God and the eternal bliss of that warm embrace.  And as St. Augustine noted, "Our loved ones only go from us to God….and God is very near."

Paul was born in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, August 21, 1939.  Paul's working class parents, Howard and Lucille, decided early on that Paul and his two younger brothers, Jim and Ken, would benefit from a Catholic education.  So, at significant financial sacrifice, the three brothers attended St. Francis Xavier Parochial School and later, St. Ignatius High School.

Paul blossomed both academically and spiritually at St. Ignatius.  Upon graduation in 1957, Paul entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).  As a Jesuit scholastic, he returned to St. Ignatius from 1964-1967, teaching History and Latin and serving as Assistant Athletic Director and as Prefect at the morning Liturgies.  On weekends, he ran the local Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball league.

During his ten years in the Jesuits, Paul received an excellent education in Philosophy and the Humanities.  He received an AB degree from Loyola University (Chicago) in 1963 and an MA in 1968, majoring in History.  More importantly, he embraced Ignatian spirituality, seeing God in every person and every thing – and made this central to his life.

In 1968, Paul made a major life change and withdrew from the Jesuits.  During his years teaching at St. Ignatius High School, Paul had found his true calling as a teacher.  To further prepare, he returned to school, entering a doctoral program at Kent State University, where he majored in American History with an emphasis on African American History.  Those years were integral to the formation of Paul's social consciousness as he studied the American Black experience and that of other minorities within American society.

In the spring of 1974, St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio hired Paul to teach and formally establish its Community Service Program.  Over the next fourteen years, Paul dedicated his life to instilling in his students the attitudes consistent with Jesuit philosophy and service to the needy in one's community.  This service included assistance to the terminally ill, tutoring disadvantaged youth, a Junior Big Brothers Program, canned food drives, etc.  During his final year at St. Xavier, over five hundred students, just under 50%, participated in the Community Service Program.  The program continues to thrive and has become a hallmark of the school on a national basis, even though Paul has been away from the school for almost thirty-five years.

In 1983, Paul made the first of several mission trips to Peru, each trip longer than the last. After a six-month visit teaching, learning the language, and working with the poor, Paul felt a calling to be a missionary in Peru.  Five years later, in 1988, Paul sold his house and belongings, left everything that he loved and put himself in the hands of the Lord.  Paul was hired to teach English and History and begin a small community service program at Colegio San Francisco Javier, a Jesuit high school in the Brena neighborhood of Peru's capital, Lima.

Through Paul's community service work, he came to know many homeless Peruvian boys.  In 1992, he took one and later a second teenage boy into his small, 400 square foot apartment.  With his meager teacher's salary of $250. per month and unsolicited financial assistance from a handful of friends in the States, Paul was able to provide the essentials for these two boys: Edgar and Donato.

Yet, Paul sensed that God was calling him to do more.

On a trip back to the United States, Paul told some of his former St. Xavier students and friends of a home he envisioned for homeless boys.  A dozen of these friends formed a non-profit organization with the sole purpose of providing funds for Paul's efforts.  Thus, the Paul Lammermeier Foundation (PLF) was created in 1995.   PLF board members administer the foundation and the raising of its funds.   By April 1997, the foundation, with the financial support of hundreds whom Paul had met while living in Cincinnati and Cleveland, had raised enough money to purchase Casa Javier (Xavier House) in Breña, a working class neighborhood in Lima.

Casa Javier serves up to eight boys -- all studying, all from desperate circumstances in the provinces of Peru and all provided an opportunity to further their education in a family environment.

At that time Fr. Robert J. Welsh, President of St. Ignatius H.S., noted:

"Clearly, the Lord has done something wonderful with Paul Lammermeier.  He must have a knowledge of Christ that has transformed him into a man who is forgetful of himself and consistently alert to the needs of others – especially those in grave need."

A few years later, the Paul and the foundation opened a second home for boys, Casa Ignacio (Ignatius House), and in 2011, Paul and the foundation opened Casa Teresa (named in honor of Mother Teresa) for girls.

Paul always saw himself continuing in this project as long as God gave him the strength to do so, and presumably he still will.

In early August 2022, Diego Vilela, Director of Casa Javier and longtime friend and companion to Paul commented:

"Being a saint is not being extraordinary or performing miracles; it is simply being a reflection of a human Jesus on a daily basis. Transmit light and hope to other lives. I believe that Pablo is that for each one of us…"

Paul is survived by his brothers, Jim and Ken, his dear aunt, Sister Madeline Lammermeier, numerous cousins, and his wider family, including the dozens of boys and girls he raised in Lima (many now with their own children and some Paul's Godchildren), board and staff of the Paul Lammermeier Foundation in Cincinnati and Asociacion Casa Javier in Lima, and hundreds of friends, colleagues and benefactors worldwide.

Memorial Mass Monday, October 17, 2022, 6:00 P.M., Chapel of the Holy Companions, St. Xavier High School, 600 W. North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224 and Memorial Mass Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 4:00 P.M., St. Mary's Chapel, St. Ignatius High School, 1911 W. 30th St., Cleveland, OH  44113.

Memorial donations can be made at https://www.lammermeier.org/donate/one-time-donation/

Paul allowed himself to be an instrument of God's peace and His work will continue.