A funeral Mass for Msgr. James Telthorst will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday, April 4, at Mary Mother of the Church, 5901 Kerth Road in south St. Louis County. Msgr. Telthorst died March 24 at the age of 79.
A visitation for Msgr. Telthorst will take place Sunday, April 3, from 4-8 p.m. at Kutis Funeral Home, 5255 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis.
James Thomas Telthorst was born on May 7, 1942, in St. Louis to Clifford and Margaret (DeMoss) Telthorst. He attended Laboure High School, and later went to Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick Seminary and Saint Louis University Divinity School. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 11, 1968, by then-Archbishop John J. Carberry.
Msgr. Telthorst served as associate pastor at St. Ann Parish in Normandy, 1968-72, and later as part-time associate pastor there from 1972-76, while serving on the faculty at St. Louis Prep Seminary North from 1972-82. He also was associate pastor at St. Adalbert in St. Louis from 1976-80, chaplain for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word Convent in Normandy from 1978-80, and chaplain for the Oblate Sisters of Providence at St. Francis Day Care Center in Normandy from 1980-82.
In 1982, Msgr. Telthorst was named director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship, where he served from 1982-91. During that time, he was part-time associate pastor at Corpus Christi in Jennings, 1983-84, Most Holy Trinity Parish in St. Louis, 1984-88, and associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Louis, 1988-91.
In 1991, he was named rector of the Cathedral of St. Louis, serving there until 2002. He also was pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in St. Louis from 2002-09, and Mary Mother of the Church in south St. Louis County from 2009-17. In 2017, he was granted retirement status.
Msgr. Telthorst was named prelate of honor with title of Reverend Monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1995. He was dean of the North St. Louis Deanery from 1994-97 and was elected to a three-year term on the Archdiocesan Priestly Life and Ministry Committee in December 1977.
Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.
