Father Werner Papeians de Morchoven, a Benedictine monk from Belgium and a former missionary to China who was one of the founders of St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo, Calif., in the mid-1950s, has died. He was 94.
Papeians de Morchoven, who had heart problems and suffered a head injury after falling outside his room at the abbey Aug. 31, died Tuesday at the Citrus Valley Hospice in West Covina, said Brother Dominique Guillen.
Papeians de Morchoven was one of the small group of monks who in 1955 founded what was originally known as St. Andrew's Priory on a several-hundred-acre former turkey ranch in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County.
The monks had been forced out of their monastery in China several years earlier by the Communist government.
St. Andrew's Abbey, which has grown to 1,700 acres and includes retreat centers for adults and for youths, is now home to 24 monks.
During his more than five decades at the abbey, Papeians de Morchoven served as ranch manager from 1957 to 1991, treasurer from 1956 to 1980 and chairman of the fundraising fall festival from 1969 to 1992.
At various times, his other duties included marketing the ceramic angels and saints the abbey produces and managing the gift shop. He also served for many years as auxiliary chaplain at Edwards Air Force Base.
"He was in charge of every building project, of every major repair," said Father Francis Benedict, abbot emeritus, who knew Papeians de Morchoven for 43 years. "He had his finger in every pie; he basically was running the whole place."
He added: "He was a very bright and talented man who was very gracious with other people, and he was a great conversationalist. He was interested in everything from history to politics to religion to just people's lives.
"He was very interested in not the theory but the practice of Christianity. He really appreciated people who lived their faith."
An accomplished artist who worked with pastels and oil, Papeians de Morchoven was known for his mountain and desert landscapes, which he sold year-round at the abbey and at the fall festival.
He also made several pieces in silver and gold, including a monstrance, a ciborium and a chalice, all of which are Eucharistic vessels.
And he used his skill at metalwork to transform re-bar and farm implements into a lectern, a sanctuary lamp and outdoor Stations of the Cross.
