title
A resolution honoring the life of Reverend Charles Frederick Strobel and requesting that Nashville's Permanent Supportive Housing Center be named in his honor.
body
WHEREAS, beloved Nashvillian, longtime priest and humanitarian, Reverend Charles Frederick Strobel passed away at the age of 80 on August 6, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Strobel was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1943 and grew up on 7th Avenue North in Germantown, a neighborhood that was anchored by the Church of the Assumption; and
WHEREAS, he was a graduate of Father Ryan High School and spent four years in the seminary at St. Mary's College in Kentucky, receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy. Strobel went on to receive a master's degree in theology from Catholic University, a master's in education from Xavier University, and an honorary doctorate in divinity from MacMurray College; and
WHEREAS, after he was ordained in January 1970, Reverend Strobel served for five years as the Associate Pastor Immaculate Conception parish in Knoxville, Tennessee and also taught at Knoxville Catholic High School, and was an instructor in the University of Tennessee's Department of Human Services; and
WHEREAS, Strobel returned to Nashville in 1975 to serve as associate pastor of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Donelson; and
WHEREAS, one of Strobel's most significant impacts on Nashville, Room In The Inn, began on a winter night in 1985 when he looked out the window of the rectory of East Nashville's Holy Name Catholic Church and saw people sitting in cars, trying to make it through the bitter cold night; and
WHEREAS, Strobel invited the people into the church, gave them a meal, and a place to sleep for the night. His act of kindness sparked his larger idea to create a city-wide program in which congregations across Nashville provide food, shelter, and community during the winter months; and
WHEREAS, Strobel launched Room In The Inn in December 1986 with four congregations, and by the end of that winter, ...
Click here for full text