Fr. Steven Baumbusch, PIME, former Detroit-based regional superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, drowned Oct. 28 while swimming off the coast of Lubang Island in the Phillippines. He was 53.

Born Dec. 23, 1956 in Columbus, Ohio, he was a graduate of the former PIME Sts. Peter & Paul High School Seminary in Newark, Ohio, where he was deeply inspired by the example of Fr. Cesare Colombo, PIME, and his work among the lepers in Burma (now Myanmar).

He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Detroit, and studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Following ordination in 1983, he spent six years as a teacher and dean at Sts. Peter & Paul High School Seminary. In 1989 he began a six-year stint as PIME U.S. regional superior at the regional headquarters in Detroit. During that time he cofounded the PIME mission in Cuanacaxtitlan, Mexico, among the native Mixtec Indians.

From 1995-98, he served as formation director for PIME’s college seminarians in Detroit. In August 1998, Fr. Baumbusch was assigned to the Philippines. He initially served at the Columbio mission on the island of Mindanao, then Paranaque (Manila metropolitan area) in the parish of Mary Queen of the Apostles.

Fr. Baumbusch had been with a group of seminarians for a brief vacation between semesters to the island of Lubang when the drowning accident occurred.

An optimistic, joyful man, Fr. Baumbusch was known for his deep faith and daring spirit.  He was deeply loved by the Filipino people; his seminarians called him “Dad.” He loved to say that “your life will have more meaning and fulfillment the more you give yourself to others. You can change the world and the lives of the people of God. “

A funeral Mass was celebrated Friday, Nov. 5, at the PIME Seminary in Tagaytay, Philippines.

Another funeral Mass was celebrated Monday, Nov. 15, at St. Andrew Church, Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, Nov. 14. Burial was in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated Monday, Nov. 22, at 10 a.m., at the PIME Missionaries Regional Headquarters, 17330 Quincy St., north of West McNichols, in Detroit.

Memorials to PIME Missionaries, 17330 Quincy St., Detroit 48221 or online at pimeusa.org.