Father Lyle Konen, C.Ss.R., 94, of Seattle, Wash., died Aug. 8, 2025, in Seattle, Wash., where he had served for nearly three decades. A Redemptorist missionary of 69 years, Father Konen will be remembered for his dedicated parish ministry and service to the incarcerated, as well as the generous spirit he brought to community life and his nurturing mentorship of generations of Redemptorist confreres. He was educated by the Benedictine Nuns through high school in the community of Keuterville, near Cottonwood, Idaho. Although he had considered a religious vocation as a youngster, he had a beautiful voice and received a scholarship to Gonzaga University. He also attended Great Falls College of Education before he met and was inspired by the life and work of the Redemptorists. He enrolled at Holy Redeemer College in Oakland, Calif, where he was known as a sincere, sensitive and thoughtful student. He was considered the main support of the seminary choirs throughout his Redemptorist formation. He proceeded to novitiate at Mount St. Clement College in De Soto and professed temporary vows on Aug. 2, 1956. He continued at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wis., where he professed perpetual vows on Sept. 2, 1959, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1961.
Newly ordained, he finished Tirocinium at Holy Redeemer College and served on the faculty from 1963 until 1965. He was appointed pastor and superior of the local community at Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland, Ore., in 1966. After five years, he was assigned to the Alaska Missions in Homer. Father Konen was later appointed at St. Gerard Parish in Great Falls, Mont., in 1973, and two years later took the helm as pastor and superior of the local community at Sacred Heart Parish in Seattle. After six years, he returned to retreat ministry as director of Picture Rocks Retreat House in Tucson, Ariz., and superior of the local community during the 1980s. There, he served the larger community through the televised “Mass for Shut-Ins” broadcast throughout southern Arizona. He remained in Arizona until 1987. He went on to serve as rector of Hofbauer House/St. Clement’s Residence in Berkeley, Calif., in 1990, but was appointed pastor and superior of the local community at St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1991.
At the age of 64, he was asked to serve the Mission in Nigeria at St. Patrick’s Parish in Satellite Town, Ojo Alaba. Health issues forced his return to the U.S. only a few months later. He completed his term as treasurer in 1996 and was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart in Seattle. He was 73 years old when he was appointed director of Desert House of Prayer in Tucson in 2004. Within six months, he officially retired and returned to Seattle, where he continued to serve the parish community, the incarcerated and nearby parishes for the remaining two decades of his priestly ministry. Born July 9, 1931, in Worley, Idaho, he was the son of the late William and Katherine Konen.
A Vigil and Rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27, at St. Clement Chapel, 300 Liguori Drive, in Liguori. A Mass of Resurrection is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, at St. Clement Chapel. Burial will be in Redemptorist Cemetery in Liguori. Arrangements are under the direction of Vinyard Funeral Home.