Francis Augustine Thill

Francis Thill was born on October 12, 1893, in Dayton, Ohio, to Bernard and Margaret (née Schele) Thill.[1] After attending the University of Dayton, he entered Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West at Cincinnati in 1914. As a seminarian, he established and organized the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade to aid missionaries in foreign countries.[1]

Thill was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati by Archbishop Henry K. Moeller on February 28, 1920.[2] He then furthered his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and toured American missionary outposts in Asia.[1] Upon his return to Ohio, Thill served as professor of oratory at Mount St. Mary's, and became chancellor of the archdiocese (1935) and domestic prelate (1937).[1]

On August 26, 1938, Thill was appointed the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Concordia by Pope Pius XI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Archbishop John T. McNicholas, with Archbishops Francis Beckman and Urban Vehr serving as co-consecrators, at St. Monica's Cathedral in Cincinnati.[2] Thill was installed by Archbishop John J. Glennon in Concordia on November 15, 1938.[1] Despite the lingering effects of the Great Depression, Thill managed to liquidate the diocesan debt of nearly $250,000 in late 1942.[1]

On December 23, 1944, Pope Pius XII moved the episcopal see from Concordia to Salina, Kansas,[3] much to the chagrin of local Catholics.[1]During his tenure, Thill laid the cornerstone for Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina on June 4, 1951, and later dedicated it on June 6, 1953.[1] He erected or remodeled 25 churches, ten schools, 11 rectories, nine convents, and six chapels.[1] Thill ordained 35 priests and founded the Catholic Youth Organization of Concordia in 1939.[1]

Francis Thill died in Salina on May 21, 1957, at age 63.[2] He is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Salina.[1]