and eighth archbishop of Dubuque. He was installed as archbishop on February 23, 1984, at the Five Flags Civic Center in Dubuque. One of the first decisions he made was to sell the old episcopal residence and move to a more modest house in Dubuque. Kucera set about reorganizing the archdiocese. This was accomplished by reorganizing or creating archdiocesan boards, and established the first Archbishop's Cabinet to coordinate the running of the archdiocese. The archdiocese was divided into three regions: Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo with a bishop in each region. The number of deaneries were reduced from 16 to 14. Kucera appointed a woman religious chancellor, and two lay people were named to archdiocesan offices. He also had revised guidelines for the Sacrament of Confirmation published in 1986. On November 30, 1986, Kucera issued a proclamation announcing the 150th anniversary of the archdiocese's founding. Various celebrations were held throughout the following year including a large scale liturgy at the Five Flags Center celebrated by Archbishop Pio Laghi, the Papal Pro-Nuncio to the United States. He also approved a controversial renovation of St. Raphael's Cathedral. In 1994, he requested the appointment of a coadjutor. Bishop Jerome Hanus of Saint Cloud was assigned as Coadjutor Archbishop of Dubuque. On October 16, 1995, Pope John Paul II accepted Kucera's resignation, and he was named archbishop emeritus. Later life and death By 2013 Kucera had moved back to Dubuque after living in Aurora, Colorado, for a number of years. On May 31, 2017, church officials confirmed that Kucera had died at Stonehill Care Center in Dubuque on May 30, 2017, at the age of 94. His funeral was held at St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque, and he was interred in the cemetery of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle. See also Catholic Church hierarchy Catholic Church in the United States Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States List of Catholic bishops of the United States Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops References Episcopal succession 1923 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of Dubuque American Benedictines Benedictine abbots Benedictine bishops Benedictine University faculty Catholic University of America alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Salina Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois Religious leaders from Illinois American people of Czech descent