Rev. Edward A. Botkin

Deceased: 2006-09-03

Diocese: DAVENPORT

CSM Graduation Year: 1980

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A campus memorial service has been scheduled for Assistant Professor of Theology Fr. Edward Botkin.  The service will be held at 4:30 pm Thursday, Sept 14 in the Ambrose Hall Beehive Chapel.  All who knew Fr. Botkin are invited to attend this service and share in celebrating his exceptional life as a priest, scholar, teacher and friend.

Assistant Professor of Theology Fr. Ed Botkin, age 65, died Sunday, September 3, 2006 at his residence from heart failure.  Fr. Botkin was a St, Ambrose alumnus and a faculty member of more than 25 years, teaching Scripture and biblical languages while continuing to serve as a parish priest.

Fr. Botkin was working in his garden at his home between Sugar Creek and Delmar, Iowa at the time of his death.  In recent years, he had planted more than 80 trees there.

His colleagues and students knew Fr. Botkin as a passionate teacher whose knowledge and love of Scripture were reminiscent of that of Fr. Herman Strub, his mentor.  He was outspoken on issues of peace and justice, especially from the pulpit, but was also known for his way with the pen.

Fr. Botkin, who was born in Maquoketa, Iowa, attended Sacred Heart School in Davenport, and graduated from Assumption High School in Davenport in 1959. He graduated from St. Ambrose in 1969. He was ordained to ministry in the Davenport Diocese on May 26, 1973.  He earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Catholic University of America and a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome,Italy.

In 1980 he became a full-time assistant professor of theology at St. Ambrose.  He was pastor of Immaculate Conception in Petersville from March 1982 to June 2006. He was also pastor of St. Patrick’s  in Delmar and St. Anne’s in Welton,Iowa, from October 1992 to the present.