REVEREND RICHARD SEBASTIAN RIES

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 18, 2019, at Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church in Pocahontas, Iowa. Bishop R. Walker Nickless will celebrate Mass with other Priests from the Diocese of Sioux City concelebrating. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery in Pocahontas. Visitation with the family present will be from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 17, 2019, at the church. There will be a Parish Rosary at 4:00 p.m. and a Scriptural Prayer Service at 6:00 p.m. Visitation will resume from 9:30 a.m. until service time on Tuesday at the church. Arrangements are with the Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Le Mars, Iowa. Expressions of sympathy can be extended to the family through www.rexwinkelfh.com.

Richard Sebastian Ries was born March 7, 1937 at 4:45 a.m. to S. “Barney” and Amelia (Hronek) Ries in their stucco house in Pocahontas. He was baptized on March 14, 1937, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pocahontas by Father George Wesseling. Richard graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Pocahontas in 1955, graduated from Loras College in Dubuque in 1959 and from Mount St. Bernard Seminary in 1963. On June 1, 1963, Reverend Richard S. Ries was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa.

His priestly assignments included St. Peter and Paul from 1963 to 1966; St. Thomas in Emmetsburg from 1966 to 1968; Holy Rosary in Fort Dodge from 1968 to 1973; Dayton and Lehigh while teaching at Holy Rosary Catholic School in Fort Dodge from 1973 to 1975; St. Catherine’s in Oyens while teaching at Remsen St. Mary’s Catholic School from 1975 to 1979; St. Anthony’s in Hospers, while teaching at Granville Spalding Catholic School from 1979 to 1982; Immaculate Conception in Cherokee from 1982 to 1990; St. John’s in Bancroft from 1990 to 1992; Immaculate Conception in Moville from 1992 to 1994, while there he built the new church; St. James in Le Mars from 1994 to 2002; and St. Thomas in Manson and St. Mary in Pomeroy from 2002 to 2012, and while being assigned there, he was also the chaplain at the prison in Rockwell City. Father Ries retired at the age of 75 and moved to Ruthven for 3 years and then moved to Sibley, Iowa, where he lived the remainder of his life.

Survivors include his four siblings: Janet Schnabel of St. Cloud, MN, Mary Ann Young of Emmestburg, IA, Bill (Mary Ann) Ries of Pocahontas, IA, and Claire Ries of Santa Rosa, CA; several nieces and nephews; and several great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother: Father Don Ries; and a nephew: Richard Ries.