Rev. Monsignor Allen J. Meier

Rev. Monsignor Allen J. Meier, P.A., age 98, of Covington, KY passed away peacefully on March
22, 2019 at St. Charles Community, Covington. He is survived by brother August Meier, sister
Helen Topmiller, brother-in-law Harry Tenkotte, sister-in-law Cecilia Meier, and many
nieces/nephews, great-nieces/nephews, and great-great-nieces/nephews. He was preceded in
death by his parents, August and Katherine Meier, as well as his siblings Norma, Edward,
Charlotte Bailey, John (Jack), Thomas, and Mary Margaret Tenkotte
Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2019 from 9:00 AM until Mass of Christian Burial
at 10:00 AM at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, 1101 Madison Ave., Covington, KY.
Bishop Roger J. Foys will be presiding, joined by concelebrants, Rev. Msgr. William Cleves
(Meier’s cousin), and Thomas More University theology professor Rev. Ronald M. Ketteler.
Entombment will follow at St. John Cemetery (Ft. Mitchell, KY).
A graduate of Covington Latin School, Allen Meier was working as a civil servant supervisor for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Columbus, Ohio, when he was drafted for military service in
July 1943. He was selected for the U.S. Army Air Corps and studied flight training at Marietta
College in Ohio for five months. When the army was in need of gunners, they transferred him
to gunnery school at Yuma, Arizona. Eventually, Meier was assigned to the 8 th Air Force, 44 th
bomb group, 66 th bomb squadron as a waist gunner. His squadron flew 24 missions over enemy
territory in Europe. After VE Day, they flew over Germany at tree-top level to survey the
damage. Stated Meier, “There I saw the destruction and it was heartbreaking. I figured I had to
do something constructive with my life.” Three weeks after his honorable discharge on October
25, 1945, he entered the seminary.
Meier studied Philosophy at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and Theology at the
Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained a
priest of the Diocese of Covington on June 2, 1951, and was immediately assigned as Secretary
to Bishop William T. Mulloy. This began a long career in diocesan administration, including roles
as Vice Chancellor, Financial Secretary, Vicar for Finance, and Director of Marydale Retreat
House and Camp. While serving in the diocesan chancery, Meier assisted in pastoral duties at:
Immaculate Conception Parish, Newport, KY; St. Augustine Parish, Covington, KY; Chaplain to
the Christian Brothers at Newport Catholic High School (now Newport Central Catholic);
Chaplain to the Sisters of Notre Dame at St. Joseph Heights, Park Hills, KY; and Chaplain of
Notre Dame Academy, Park Hills.
Meier was active in issues of social justice. In 1960, in addition to his other financial
responsibilities at the chancery, he was concurrently named Diocesan Director of the Pontifical
Mission Aid Societies. He joined other diocesan directors on a worldwide trip to Japan, Korea,
Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Rome. In India, he met Mother
Teresa, whom he described as “saintly.” After his return, he visited Catholic parishes

throughout the United States raising funds for the missions. Bishop Richard Ackerman
appointed Meier to the Commission for Religion and Race, where he, Rev. Anthony Deye, and
others joined Protestant ministers to promote civil rights. In fact, Rev. Meier gave the
invocation at the state capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. held a
Civil Rights rally there in March 1964. Meier met the Reverend King, and described him as “very
sincere, the type of man you wanted to do what he wanted.”
After retirement in 1985, Meier resided at Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, served as a consultant
at the Diocesan Archives, and later moved to St. Charles Community in Covington. He was elevated to
Monsignor by Bishop Ackerman in June 1970, and later to Protonotary Apostolic (P.A.) by Pope Benedict
XVI and Bishop Roger J. Foys on October 30, 2005. Always a dedicated priest with a special devotion to
the Blessed Virgin, Meier had a ready smile and a warm, sincere personality. At the time of his death, he
was the oldest priest of the Diocese of Covington, just shy of his 99 birthday which would have been in
May.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Sisters of Notre Dame, 1601 Dixie
Highway, Park Hills, KY 41011, or to the Priests’ Retirement Fund, care of the Diocese of Covington, 1125
Madison Ave., Covington, KY 41011.