Father Alfred Boeddeker

Anton Boeddeker was born in San Francisco, California on August 7, 1903 to Bertha and Joseph Boeddeker, both German immigrants. After their home was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, the family relocated to Oakland, California. Anton was the fifth child in a family of eight children. The Boeddekers lived near St. Elizabeth's Church in the Fruitvale district of Oakland. The Franciscan church became the spiritual, educational, and social center of their lives. In June, 1914, Anton entered the seminary in Santa Barbara, California. At age 17, he took his vows as a Franciscan friar (Order of Friars Minor) and received the name Alfred. He completed his studies in 1927 and was ordained on June 11th of that year. In 1930 he traveled to Rome, Italy to study canon law and theology at Antonianum University and in 1933 received a Lector Generalis degree. Father Boeddeker returned to California to teach canon law, theology, and liturgy at the Franciscan School of Theology in Santa Barbara. He spent the next fifteen years there, teaching and establishing humanitarian programs in the community. In the late 1940s, Father Boeddeker was selected to establish a Catholic university in Hankow, China. In preparation for this assignment, he enrolled in a graduate program at the University of California, Berkeley, to study Mandarin, Japanese and Russian languages and Chinese culture. The plans were cancelled when China closed its door to Westerners in 1949. Following this, he was appointed pastor of St. Boniface Church, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. On October 4th, 1950, Father Boeddeker established St. Anthony's Dining Room, to serve free meals to the poor in the community. The Dining Room became a thriving charitable organization in San Francisco. In 1954, he established St. Anthony's Farm in Petaluma, California, as a center for work and rehabilitation. That same year he founded the Marian Center and Library at St. Boniface Church and the National Marian Congress on the West Coast. He served as president of the Franciscan National Marian Commission from 1955-1979 and was associate editor of The Marian Era, published by the Franciscan Herald Press from 1960-1979. In addition, Father Boeddeker was a member of the Mariological Society of America, the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis. Father Boeddeker retired in 1980. He died on January 1st, 1994 in San Francisco, California.

From the guide to the Father Alfred Boeddeker collection, 1963-1970, (University of Dayton, Marian Library)