In early 2018, Brinkmoeller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he dealt with the diagnosis while continuing to work in Dayton area churches until earlier this year.
He wrote about his journey through treatments, surgeries and his faith on a blog for parishioners and friends.
“The love I have received these past 18 months has provided a near-constant glow in my soul,” he wrote in late August in one of his final entries. “It has carried me through things I thought would stifle me.”
At times, Brinkmoeller’s niece, Amy Brinkmoeller, would write updates when he was unable to.
“While these are times of grieving, it is a blessing to both his family and some of his closest friends to be able to support him as he has done for us,” wrote Amy Brinkmoeller on Sept. 24. “In my case, he has done for me my entire life.”
Brinkmoeller served as a parish priest from 1992 to 2016 at Dayton-area parishes that include Ascension, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and St. Helen.
After retiring in 2016, he helped celebrate Masses around the Dayton area and took a pilgrimages to Lourdes in 2017 and to the Israel in 2018.
Brinkmoeller described his cancer battle as a blessing at times “because the disease can build a community around suffering people.”
He wrote about many treatments and harsh procedures. In March he wrote that the cancer had came back at stage 4 and his doctor gave him less than a year to live. By the end of August, his doctors suggested hospice care and his niece continued the updates.
Brinkmoeller was born to Joseph and Catherine Brinkmoeller in 1945 and grew up in Cincinnati in the Evanston neighborhood. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1971 and served most of his career with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
He worked at parishes in Cincinnati until he became the Director of Priestly Formation of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and other roles in ministerial formation from 1979 to 1987. He then served as the Executive Director of the Secretariat for Priestly Life and Ministry at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1987 to 1992.
Services for Brinkmoeller begin Friday with a Rite of Reception of the Body, 3:30 p.m. Friday at St. Helen Church, 605 Granville Place, Riverside, where he will lie in state. Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, 2300 S. Smithville Road, with Bishop Joseph Binzer as the celebrant.
Brinkmoeller worked closely with Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley and suggested donations be made to the agency’s refugee resettlement program.
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