Pastor, 63, Dies After Battle With Cancer

Known for his kindness, strength and pocketful of puns, Father Kenneth Krause, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, died of pancreatic cancer Friday at age 63.

In his final months, Krause moved many to tears with his graceful acceptance of death, inspiring their faith and evoking an outpouring of love.

Krause was diagnosed with the disease, which is inoperable and incurable, last December.

Krause told The Times in February, “I was very grateful I found out my life span was limited.” The issue, Krause said, had become “How do I spend my last time? I have to spend it well.”

Energetic and emphatic, Krause continued to exude faith, even as his strength waned. Friends and parishioners said the man who showered them all with seemingly undivided concern finally understood the joy of letting others help him.

Greg Kelley, a parishioner for 19 years, said he last saw Krause about a week and a half ago and even then Krause showed great strength.

Kelley said he knelt beside Krause’s bed and said, “You’re really a fighter and tremendous example to everyone.”

Krause replied weakly: “That’s the way I want to be. There’s no point in just lying down and passing out.”

Kelley recalled how their brief interchange was similar to earlier displays of strength when he first announced his illness last Christmas Eve.

“He told us he’d been suffering pain for some time. He sounded very strong and very brave,” Kelley said. “It was a very emotional moment for people. Rows of people started crying.”

At his congregations at St. Joachim Church in Costa Mesa and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newport Beach, Krause held birthday Masses earlier this year to packed congregations.

Many at those Masses said his sermon caused them to pause and reflect.

“A lot of times priests live alone and die alone,” Father Steve Sallot, rector of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, told The Times last winter. “One of the great gifts of Father Krause was he’s allowed people to enter into his suffering.”

In recent months, Krause’s wide legion of supporters remembered his legendary playfulness, his toughness, the time he was spotted sitting on a curb sharing his sandwich and a thermos of coffee with a homeless man. They remembered the man who for 34 years had presided over baptisms and weddings and the graves of his parishioners.

A graduate of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Krause, a native of Los Angeles, was ordained for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1965. He served as associate pastor at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in South Pasadena before joining the faculty at Mater Dei High School, where he was eventually named principal in 1974.

Krause also served as pastor of St. Joseph’s in Santa Ana, St. Joachim in Costa Mesa and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, where he lived at the time of his death.

A vigil will be held for Krause on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange. A funeral mass will be held Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at Holy Family Cathedral.

Krause is survived by his mother, Dorothy, two brothers and one sister.