Fr. Leo Hinz, age 86, died on the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord March 25 2011 while eating supper with the monastic community.

He had celebrated Mass at St. Elizabeth's Convent that morning and was ingood spirits. He took part in the monastic schedule as usual and walked from Vespers in church to the dining room, then died a few minutes later of apparent heart failure.

Fr. Leo served as pastor in many of the larger parishes of the St. Peter's Territorial Abbacy. In the later 1960s he served in the Watson area, and again in 2006. Twice he was pastor in Bruno and chaplain for the Ursuline Sisters. He was pastor of Muenster from 1977 - 82, then served in Humboldt for 10 years. The new St. Augustine Church was built during this time. He was resident pastor in Cudworth from 1998 - 2006.

Fr. Leo was ordained in 1950 and then studied canon law at St. Paul University, Ottawa. Pastors in the Abbacy relied on his expertise. He also shared his gifts with other dioceses. He worked at the regional matrimonial tribunal in Vancouver, B.C. from 1971 - 74. He worked at the regional tribunal in Regina, Sask. from 1975 - 77, and again from 1992 - 93. Many religious communities in Saskatchewan also called on his expertise as they revised their Constitutions after the Second Vatican Council.

Fr. Leo's work with the marriage tribunals made him very sensitive to difficulties facing married couples. He was involved in marriage preparation courses for young couples and in the marriage encounter movement to foster healthy marriages.

Fr. Leo taught high school classes at St. Peter's College, where he was on staff from 1953 - 67. During this time he did a lot of manual work during the construction of the college and abbey bildings in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

At the time of his death, Fr. Leo was semi-retired at the abbey. He served as archivist for the community; he also celebrated weekend Masses regularly at St. Mary's Villa and St. Elizabeth's Convent in Humboldt.