Clair Boes
Father Clair Boes

Father Clair Boes is the son of William and Laura (Engel) Boes and great-grandson of Gerhard and Maria Anna (Nieland) Boes. He was born in 1938 and grew up on a farm northwest of Breda, Iowa. After graduating from Loras College, Dubuque, he received his theological training at Canisianum, University of Innsbruk in Austria. He was ordained in Innsbruk on April 5, 1965, in the presence of his parents and uncle, Father Norbert Boes. Shortly after his ordination, he had the honor of celebrating mass in St. Walburga's Catholic Church in Ramsdorf, Germany, the hometown of his great grandparents — Gerhard and Anna Nieland Boes. His first Solemn High Mass in St. Bernard's in Breda, Iowa was on August 4, 1965.

Photo: Father Clair Boes, about 1975

Father Boes has served at Blessed Sacrament parish in Sioux City; Holy Spirit parish in Carroll; St. Joseph's parish in Sioux Rapids, and is currently pastor at St. Andrew's in Sibley, Iowa.

First mass

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