SAVANNAH, Ga., — Father Herbert Joseph Wellmeier, a priest of the Diocese of Savannah for almost 50 years, died Oct. 18 in Savannah.

A native of Dayton, Father Wellmeier was sent to serve in the mission territory of Georgia shortly after his ordination in 1956.

Born in 1930 and raised at St. Joseph Orphanage in Dayton, Father Wellmeier was ordained by Archbishop A. G. Cicognani, the Apostolic Delegate to the U.S. at the Josephinum Pontifical College in Worthington.

His first assignment was as assistant pastor of the cathedral in Savannah, where he served until 1963. He remained in that diocese as a pastor until his death.

He also carried out a number of administrative and specialized assignments, including athletic director and confessor at the former St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Savannah during the 1960s and judge for the diocesan tribunal from 1999 to 2004.

Father Wellmeier is survived by two sisters, Martha Ervin and Lucille "Midge" Weidner, both of Dayton.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. with a Vigil Service at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. A Funeral Mass was celebrated by Savannah Bishop J. Kevin Boland with priests of the Diocese of Savannah as concelebrants on Oct. 21, at the cathedral in Savannah. Additional services, with Bishop Boland presiding, were held at St. Anthony Parish in Dayton on Oct. 24. Burial followed in Calvary Cemetery in Dayton.