ALLOUEZ — Fr. Gary Dantinne, who served as pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Suamico, and St. Pius Parish, Little Suamico, for nearly 20 years, died on Sunday, May 26, at age 82.
Fr. Dantinne, a Green Bay area native, graduated from Premontre High School in 1959. He attended St. Norbert College in De Pere, earning a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1964.
Fr. Dantinne attended St. Francis Seminary, located in St. Francis, Wis., near Milwaukee, to study theology. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Aloysius Wycislo on May 25, 1968, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.
Following a temporary assignment as an associate of the Associated Diocesan Societies, Fr. Dantinne was appointed associate pastor (parochial vicar) at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Marinette. In June of 1969, he became associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Green Bay.
A year later, he moved to St. Mary Parish, Menasha, to serve as associate pastor. In August of 1971, he was appointed associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Neenah, where he served for nearly four years.
Fr. Dantinne was first assigned a pastor in June of 1975 at St. Mary Parish, Greenville. In January of 1979, he became co-pastor at St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish, Kaukauna, before being named sole pastor of the parish five months later.
Fr. Dantinne served more than five years as pastor at Sacred Heart Parish, Shawano, and nearly two years as pastor at St. Kilian Parish, New Franken, before becoming pastor in Suamico and Little Suamico.
In 1992, Fr. Dantinne was pastor when St. Benedict Parish celebrated its 75th anniversary.
In 1982, while serving in Kaukauna, Fr. Dantinne took a four-month sabbatical in Rome. In 2001, he took sabbatical in Israel, where he spent four months at the Biblical Theological Institute at Tantur, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Due to a staph infection of the brain requiring surgery in 2010, Fr. Dantinne was placed on medical disability. He retired from active ministry in 2011.
Fr. Dantinne enjoyed travel, downhill skiing, biking, riding motorcycles and family genealogy.
He is survived by distant relatives and a few very close friends who have been helpful in his retirement, especially John and Carolyn Whitehouse, Mark and Laura Hollister, Don and Rose Warden, Fr. John Bergstadt and Fr. Patrick Beno.
Fr. Dantinne was preceded in death by his parents, Chester and Irene (Boehm) Dantinne, and his sister, Donna.
He was also preceded in death by his canine friends: Taffy, Elle and Baele.
A visitation is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. followed by a vigil service at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, 140 S. Monroe Ave., Green Bay.
Visitation will resume at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Monday, June 3, at 9 a.m. until the 10 a.m. funeral Mass. Bishop David Ricken will be the celebrant. Fr. Tom Long will serve as the homilist. Entombment will follow at Allouez Catholic Cemetery.