By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 8/26/04)

Chester Anthony "Chet" Hobert, 100, "father of the St. Bridget Catholic community," died Aug. 19, at a nursing home in Berryville.

Born in Sandusky, Ohio, Nov. 15, 1903, Hobert moved to Winchester in the 1920s.

He held many titles in Winchester and Clarke County. He was the oldest member of the St. Bridget Mission; one of three living charter members of Knights of Columbus Council No. 3572, and the oldest Knight in Virginia; and he had maintained perfect attendance with the Lions Club in Clarke County for 69 years. He was instrumental in forming both Winchester and Clarke County Parks and Recreation Departments. He was named Clarke Courier Citizen of the year in 1986.

Hobert served as the first Grand Knight of the Valley Council in 1953, state treasurer in 1958 and state secretary in 1959.

Hobert’s greatest achievement was helping to establish a Catholic church in Clarke County. Hobert arranged to have Masses celebrated at the Opera House in Berryville, was in charge of setting up the altar and cleaning up after Mass, and was a reader and altar server. He and his wife stored the altar and linens at their house.

Farmers and Merchants Bank bought and demolished the Opera House, so Berryville Masses were moved to Grace Episcopal Church.

When the late Arlington Bishop John R. Keating came to Berryville in the 1990s to find a site for the mission church, Hobert offered to donate 10 acres of his own land for the church. Hobert’s land was found unsuitable for construction, so land adjacent to the Ruritan fairgrounds was purchased for the church.

Hobert was a member of every committee organized to raise funds for both Sacred Heart and St. Bridget Mission. He was able to see the fruits of his labor in May 2002 at the dedication of St. Bridget Chapel in the Field. Because of his dedication in seeing this church built, the future church hall will be named in his honor.

Father Stanley Krempa, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Winchester, said in a HERALD interview last year that because of his faith in his Church and community, Hobert can "really be called the father of the St. Bridget Catholic community."

Although there were few Catholic families in Winchester when Hobert moved there in the 1920s, he said, "It’s never hard to be a Catholic. All you have to do is make a desire for it."

In an interview last year on Hobert’s 100th birthday, his youngest son, Michael, said, "There are three things he cares about — his Church, the Lions and his family."

When Hobert was asked about what he had accomplished in his 100 years, he responded, "I guess I lived long enough to be 100."

Hobert is survived by two sisters, Dorothy Welton and Armella Maston, both of Sandusky, Ohio; two sons, Chester of Bonita Springs, Fla., and John Michael of Berryville; a daughter, Barbara Hamill of Chepachet, R.I.; 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Ollar Hobert, and a son, Peter.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Monday at St. Bridget Chapel, by Father Michael Kelly, parochial vicar of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, with burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Winchester.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Bridget Chapel in the Field Building Fund, Hobert Hall, 130 Keating Dr., Winchester, Va. 22601.