Edward (Eddie) Kalbfleish

Edward (Eddie) Kalbfleish, a pioneer in the Hispanic Apostolate of the archdiocese who held leadership roles for half a century, died April 22. He was 87. He was president of the Secretariat for the Spanish-speaking Cursillo movement in the archdiocese and also was a member of the national Cursillo Secretariat. Mr. Kalbfleish was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and grew up in Puerta de Tierra, Puerto Rico. In the archdiocese he was the founder of an organization of Puerto Rican Catholics and later was one of the founders of the Our Lady of Providencia Committee that organizes the annual Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral in honor of the Puerto Rican patroness. He was treasurer of the committee at the time of his death. He formerly served as general coordinator of the San Juan Bautista Fiesta held each June for Puerto Rican Catholics in the archdiocese, and was one of a group that founded what has become the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center. Juan Blanchard, director of the archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Affairs, said that Mr. Kalbfleish was ''a model'' as a Catholic layman and parishioner, a reliable volunteer and ''a serious person who was committed to the Church and his family.'' ''He was an icon of the Hispanic Apostolate,'' Blanchard told CNY. Mr. Kalbfleish came to New York following his service in the U.S. Army in Japan and the Pacific in World War II. His working career was spent as a heavy machinery operator. After his retirement he served as a full-time volunteer in Hispanic ministry positions. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Manuela, and their children, Sylvia and Edward Jr. He and his wife have been longtime parishioners of St. Paul the Apostle parish in Manhattan, where a Funeral Mass was offered April 27.