Fr. Valentine Young

Well into retirement, Franciscan Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, served where he was needed. At 80, he was teaching Latin at Roger Bacon High School. When he died Jan. 17 at the age of 88, he was still ministering to the Tridentine Mass Community as chaplain. “He has gone out of his way so often to be of service to those who have called upon him,” said Bishop Roger Foys of the Diocese of Covington in 2016 when Fr. Young celebrated his 60^th anniversary of ordination.

Christened Wilbert, he was born Feb. 20, 1931, one of 11 children of Clarence and Margaret (Groh) Young of Bellevue, Ky. Hoping to become a missionary priest, he entered the early high school program at St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati in 1943. After graduation he was invested in the Franciscan Order in 1947, made first profession with the Province of St. John the Baptist in 1948, and continued his education at Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Mich. Solemnly professed in 1952, he studied theology at Holy Family House of Theology in Oldenburg, Ind., and was ordained a priest in 1956.

Early life as a priest led Fr. Young to Native American missions in Arizona from 1956-1959. He returned to Cincinnati for four years as a teacher at Roger Bacon and nine years at his alma mater, St. Francis Seminary. Back in the Southwest from 1972-1998, he served primarily Navajo and Hispanic communities in Arizona and Mexico as an associate or pastor and worked in administrative roles for the Franciscans.

Fr. Young began offering Mass and other sacraments in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite in the 1990s when he made retreats with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. From 1998 to 2010, he served Latin Mass communities in Maple Hill, Kansas, Rapid City, S.D., and Lexington, Ky. In residence at St. Clement Friary in St. Bernard since 2010, he returned to Roger Bacon as a part-time teacher in 2011 and was celebrating Mass at parishes in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati as recently as last week.

Preceded in death by all of his immediate family, Fr. Young is survived by a number of nieces and nephews. His body will be received by the friars at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, at St. Clement Church, 4536 Vine St. in St. Bernard. A Mass of Christian Burial follows at 7 p.m. Interment is at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at St. Mary Cemetery in St. Bernard. Memorials may be sent to the Franciscan Friars in care of FriarWorks, 1615 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.