April 14, 2020 – Rev. G. Richard (Dick) Dimler, SJ, was born in Baltimore, Md., on October 21, 1931. He graduated from Loyola Blakefield high school and entered the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa. in 1950. He attended Loyola Seminary in Shrub Oak, NY, where he received his bachelor’s degree and Licentiate in Philosophy. He also received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Woodstock College in Maryland and was ordained a priest on June 16, 1963.
Following ordination, Fr. Dimler went to Germany where he received a Master’s in German from Middlebury College in Mainz. He then returned to the States and went on to earn a Doctorate in German Literature from UCLA.
In 1970, Fr. Dimler came back to his hometown of Baltimore where he taught German Literature at Loyola College for two years. He then began what would become a 34-year tenure at Fordham University in the Bronx. For much of that time, he taught German Literature, but after earning himself another master’s degree, this time in computer education from Iona College, he also began teaching computer science. For 16 years he was the editor of the University’s quarterly publication Thought, which published a broad range of articles and reviews on topics in theology, philosophy, sociology, history and education.
In 1999, while still at Fordham, Fr. Dimler transitioned into a role dear to his heart, a research professor of Jesuit emblem studies. He would later publish books on the subject; Emblematic Images and Religious Texts and The Jesuit Emblem in the European Context.
Fr. Dimler later served as a pastoral minister at St. Mark’s Parish in Venice, Ca., and in 2009, returned to Wernersville to serve in pastoral ministries at the Center for Spiritual Growth. Even when he officially retired from active ministry to live at the Colombiere Jesuit community in Baltimore, he continued his pursuit of Jesuit emblem research.
Fr. Dimler died on April 14, 2020 at the age of 88.