Born Adam Michael Loeb on October 8, 1872 in Reupelsdorf, Bavaria, Germany, he was the son of George Adam Loeb and Ursula Rausch. As a young boy he was injured when a wagon passed over his lower stomach. This pain was to be part of his life. As a young man he worked as a winegrower. From October 14, 1893 until September 23, 1895 he was in the military service as part of Company 12, K 64, which was an infantry regiment of King William of Wuerttemberg. After the death of his father he and other family members came to the United States to their uncle Rausch in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He arrived in steerage on March 27, 1900. His uncle was aware that the Pittsburgh monastery of the Passionists needed a gardener. Twenty-eight years old, he got the job. At that time Father Michael Klinzing, C.P. was rector at Pittsburgh and suggested that the young man might have a vocation to religious life. It seemed like a call from God, because Adam Loeb had just survived a bout of typhoid fever. He professed his vows on November 25, 1902. His first nine months were under the direction of Father Denis Callagee, C.P. Brother Wendelin was helped greatly by Brother Lawrence Dowling during this formative period. One problem was Brother Loeb’s aversion to American food. Infirmarian Brother Valentine Rausch, a cousin of the young man, urged him to conquer this difficulty which after time the young man did. The remaining period of the novitiate was under Father Fidelis Kent Stone, C.P. After his profession as a brother he remained in Pittsburgh to assist in the preparation for the fiftieth anniversary of the Passionists in the United States. After this, his assignments were in West Hoboken, New Jersey and Dunkirk, New York. In 1906, when the provinces split, he became a member of Holy Cross Province. His ministries included a cook, refectorian, cobbler, gardener and furnace man. He also lived in Chicago, Illinois and St. Paul, Kansas. He had been failing for a year with throat cancer when he died in Chicago.
Birth Date:
October 8, 1872
Profession Date:
November 25, 1902
Death Date:
April 26, 1945