HAYESVILLE — Family, friends and parishioners of St. William Parish and Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission will come together Wednesday, Nov. 15, to celebrate the life of Father George Kloster. Father Kloster passed away peacefully on his favorite holy day of the year, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2019. Funeral arrangements were delayed due to the ensuing pandemic. Read his full obituary.
A funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Hayesville by Monsignor Patrick J. Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, and concelebrated by Father Alex Ayala, current pastor of the Murphy and Hayesville churches. A reception will be held in the Sister Terry Martin Fellowship Hall after Mass.
Father Kloster was born on Oct. 28, 1943, in Utica, N.Y., to George Martin and Helen Currier Kloster. When he was 10, his family moved to Clayton, N.C., where his father was the manager of a textile mill. After graduating from Clayton High School, he attended St. Mary’s College in Kentucky, and later studied theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 20, 1968, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Father Kloster’s service to the people of Western North Carolina spanned some 45 years, and he served as a pastor in seven parishes across North Carolina. He retired in 2013 after serving as pastor of St. William and Immaculate Heart of Mary for 15 years. In 2018 he celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination with a celebration well attended by fellow priests, family and friends.
Father Kloster was well known for his charitable work and devotion to ecumenism. He served on the North Carolina Council of Churches in many areas including as president from 1968 to 1988, and he received its Distinguished Service Award in 1991. He was an advocate for social justice, and he was named Catholic Charities USA Volunteer of the Year in 2013. Also that year, a portion of U.S. Hwy. 64 in western North Carolina was named “Rev. George Kloster Highway” to honor his commitment to church, civic and community affairs in Clay and Cherokee counties. He was active in the Cherokee County Ministerial Association, and he organized many fundraising events such as “Holy Smoke.”
He also led pilgrimages to Israel and throughout Europe, and he traveled with brother priests, parishioners and friends all over the world. He was instrumental in organizing Kloster family reunions, which brought together family and relatives from across the United States including the family’s ancestral village of Gross-Zimmern in Germany.
Father Kloster will forever remain in the hearts of those whose life he touched. His endless contributions knew no boundaries. His priestly life was filled with acts of charity and devotion to service to the community he dearly loved.
— Ferris and Gail Maloof
CHARLOTTE — Police, prosecutors, treatment professionals, and people who have been touched by the nation’s fentanyl crisis turned out at St. Matthew Sept. 21 for a community conversation about the devastating impact the drug is having across the Charlotte region.
“If you don’t think this can walk in and sit down at your kitchen table – you’re crazy,” Union County District Attorney Trey Robison told more than 50 parents, grandparents and young people gathered at the church. “This is a public health crisis on a massive scale…It can reach anybody.”
To amplify the point, a 19-year-old man – two years sober now – told his story of how experimentation with marijuana in fifth grade led to drinking, drugs and addiction to fentanyl in high school. That is, until he ended up on the bathroom floor of a gas station popping pills, vomiting, crying – and finally deciding to get help.
Together, this persuasive panel of speakers painted the picture of an underappreciated epidemic that can kill an unsuspecting user the first time – or any time thereafter.
Suspected fentanyl deaths in Mecklenburg County have approached or surpassed 200 every year since 2020, with numbers rising in 2023, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police statistics.
“It’s really out of hand now,” said CMPD officer Donahue. “Fentanyl does not discriminate. We’ve had deaths of people from 11 to 69,” including all socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups.
Some takeaways:
- Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
- Because it’s cheap and highly addictive, drug dealers make fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl to drive profits and demand.
- Laced pills look identical to such drugs as OxyContin, Percocet and Xanax that users seek, and are often deadly. The only safe prescription pills are those that come from a doctor or pharmacy.
- Even marijuana can be laced with fentanyl to intensify the effect and create addiction.
- Six out of 10 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022 contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to a federal alert.
Medical professionals offered some hope during the conversation, saying even fentanyl addiction can be treated – as it was for the now-sober young man who spoke eloquently to the crowd. He cited his family’s unconditional love and support, and effective treatment from his counselors.
Father John Allen said St. Matthew hosted the event to help raise awareness and connect people with resources: “We opened this event up to the community because people are dying from this epidemic, most of them unaware of the dangers of fentanyl,” said Father Allen, administrator of St. Matthew. “My hope is we saved at least one life tonight and opened people’s eyes – and it’s important to remember that God offers hope and refuge no matter what the circumstances.”
— Catholic News Herald