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EDMUND FLOYD LEEMAN, JR., T.O.R.

Archbishop and Seventh Metropolitan-Primate

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Ordinary of the Diocese of New Jersey

Pastor of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Apostles Church

Forked River, New Jersey

Entered into Life:  April 23, 1939

Entered into Eternal Life:  May 18, 2011

"Behold a good and great high priest who in his days pleased God."

On Wednesday May 18, 2011, The Most Reverend Edmund Floyd Leeman, Jr., T.O.R. entered into Eternal Life.
 
Archbishop Leeman had been suffering for the last several months from Pancreatic Cancer and several additional complications resulting from it. His battle is now over and he has entered into Eternal Rest, passing into the arms of the Lord he had served so faithfully these many years.

Archbishop Leeman was born in Millinocket, Maine, the first child of the late Edmund F Leeman, Sr and the late Rose (Lupia) Leeman. At around the age of 5 the family moved to New Jersey where he grew up and attended school. Archbishop Leeman was a delayed vocation, entering into his ecclesiastical studies and Religious Life in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma after having worked in retail for many years, first to support his mother and siblings, and later as a career.

Archbishop Leeman was ordained to the priesthood of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church by Archbishop Edward J Ford, T.O.R. in 1981 and when the need for a diocese in the New Jersey and Mid-Atlantic area was determined, he was consecrated as the first Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey in 1984. In 2002 he was enthroned as the Seventh Metropolitan-Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church upon the resignation of Archbishop Ford from the Primacy. In 2006 Archbishop Leeman began to suffer several recurring bouts of severe illness and also developed a heart condition that led to his decision to resign from the Office of Primate, having first appointed Archbishop Ford as Primatial Vicar and subsequently as Eighth Primate of our Church when he was enthroned in 2007.

Archbishop Leeman served as the Pastor of Our Lady Queen of Holy Apostles Parish in Forked River, New Jersey and also as the Custos of the Province of The Divine Compassion for the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular of St Francis of Penance.

“Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him; May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. AMEN.”