BOEHM, CHARLES (1853-9 Apr. 1932), was a missionary to Hungarian immigrants in America. Born in Selmecbanya, Hungary, to Felez and Julia Boehm, he entered the minor seminary at Esztergom, and was sent to the University of Vienna, where he completed his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained on 16 July 1876.
Boehm's pastored at Maria Nostra and Nagy-Modro before 1892, when he was the first Hungarian priest chosen by Kolos Cardinal Vaszary to work among Hungarian Catholics in America. Boehm arrived in Cleveland in Dec. 1892 and established ST. ELIZABETH'S CHURCH, making provisions for a school that opened in 1893 under lay direction, until Fr. Boehm gained the services of the URSULINE SISTERS in 1895. Boehm started the newspaper Katolikus Magyarok Vasarnapja (Catholic Hungarian Sunday) and also organized a number of spiritual and fraternal organizations.
In 1907 Fr. Boehm left St. Elizabeth to devote himself to missionary work. Using Buffalo as headquarters, he traveled throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, ministering to Hungarian communities. In 1923 he resumed the pastorate of St. Elizabeth's. In recognition of his many services, Fr. Boehm was declared a domestic prelate by the Vatican and given the title of monsignor. Msgr. Boehm resigned his parish in 1927 because of advancing age, but took on a new apostolate, visiting CLEVELAND STATE HOSPITAL for five years and serving as its unofficial chaplain. He died in St. Vincent Charity Hospital in 1932 after a brief illness. Boehm is buried in CALVARY CEMETERY.
Papers of St. Elizabeth Parish Archives, Diocese of Cleveland.