St. Nicholas Parish Founder Msgr. Otto Eugene Sporrer Dies

Msgr. Otto Eugene Sporrer, who founded St. Nicholas Parish in Laguna Hills and served as its pastor for 22 years, died at the age of 81, church officials said Tuesday.

Sporrer, who retired from St. Nicholas in 1987, died Sunday. He had had cancer for the past few months, according to Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.

Sporrer, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., was a Catholic priest for 55 years, beginning in 1942, when he was selected to be a Navy chaplain. He served in Korea, among many overseas assignments.

Sporrer retired as a commander in 1965 and moved to Laguna Hills, where he became the first pastor of St. Nicholas, which was established for the thousands of retirees then flocking to the Leisure World community.

“He had a great affection for the elderly,” Baird said.

After retiring from St. Nicholas, Sporrer moved to Dana Point, where he pursued his passion for fishing, Baird said.

Father Ted Olson, who succeeded Sporrer at St. Nicholas, described him as “a very dedicated priest who was particularly concerned with the poor and the disadvantaged in the world.”

Olson, who now serves as the pastor of St. Angela Merici Parish in Brea, said Sporrer was among the first priests to assist Vietnamese refugees from Camp Pendleton in resettling in South County.

“He was a man dedicated to the church,” Olson said.

A funeral Mass for Sporrer will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Nicholas Church. Church officials said that in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to St. Vincent de Paul Conference, which funds programs for the poor, through St. Nicholas.