St. Vincent's Abbey in Latrobe on December 8, 1887, and was succeeded as archabbot by Andrew Hintenach. At the time of his death, there were ten Benedictine Abbeys in the United States founded by him. In his lifetime, he founded 152 Roman Catholic parishes, ten Abbeys and numerous schools. He was lauded by Sadliers Catholic Encyclopedia of 1888, as "The greatest American Missionary of the Nineteenth century. Today, there are over thirty Abbeys and monasteries that take their roots from Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B." His funeral services took place over a period of several days and were attended by many prominent religious figures and civic leaders from across the United States, as well as his current and former students. According to The Latrobe Advance, "The body of the Arch-Abbott lay in state in full pontifical robes in the apartments used by him during life until Sunday afternoon," December 11. That day, his body was carried to his church, where it "remained until the grand and impressive ceremonies preparatory to [it] being placed in the vault, [its] last resting place, were gone through with" on Tuesday, December 13. His former church "was filled to overflowing" during his funeral. "The Rt. Rev. K. Phelan, of Allegheny, was the celebrant of the solemn requiem, and Bishop William O'Hara, of Scranton, delivered a masterly sermon." His nephew Sebastian Wimmer was a well-known Civil engineer who lived in St. Marys Pennsylvania. Sebastian kept a diary of his life daily for fifty years. The original diaries are at the St. Mary's historical society and were transcribed five years ago by Laura Woodrough Steneck. Quotations "Forward, always forward, everywhere forward! We must not be held back by debts, bad years or by difficulties of the times. Man's adversity is God's opportunity."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. "We belong to the whole world."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. "People plant trees though they are certain that the fruit will benefit only the next generation."—Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. References Sources "Boniface Wimmer" by Patrick W. Carey in American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. External links Boniface Wimmer website German abbots Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Bavarian emigrants to the United States Saint Vincent College 1809 births 1887 deaths German Benedictines University of Regensburg alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Latrobe, Pennsylvania 19th-century American Roman Catholic priests