Blue Cloud Monks Elect an Abbot
On the morning of Saturday, 10 January 2009, the monks of Blue Cloud Abbey chose Father Denis Quinkert OSB to be their abbot. He had held the office of abbot previously from 1986 until 1991. A year ago, Father Denis had been named Prior of Blue Cloud and he became the administrator of the abbey upon Abbot Thomas Hillenbrand’s resignation on 1 January of this year.
Abbot Denis was born in New Albany, Indiana, on 7 July 1936. He attended St. Placid Hall, a secondary school for Brotherhood candidates at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana. Upon graduating from there in 1954, he came to Blue Cloud Abbey, St. Meinrad’s foundation in Marvin, South Dakota. He professed vows in 1956. As a Benedictine Brother, Abbot Denis worked on the abbey farm, helped with the construction of the monastery and farm buildings, and was later assigned as a prefect at the Indian schools staffed by Blue Cloud Abbey. Several years later, he began studies for the priesthood at Pope John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. He was ordained at Blue Cloud Abbey in 1976. As a priest of the community, Father Denis was a pastor at Ft. Totten, North Dakota, and at Wagner and Milbank in South Dakota. He also served as a chaplain to the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery and the students of Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota.