Joseph Rademacher (bishop)

Joseph Rademacher (December 3, 1840 – June 12, 1900) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Nashville, Tennessee (1883–1893) and Bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana (1893–1900).

Joseph Rademacher was born in Westphalia, Michigan, to Bernard and Theresia (née Platte) Rademacher, who were German immigrants. In 1855, he began his classical and philosophical studies under the Benedictines at St. Vincent's College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He completed his theological studies at St. Michael's Seminary in Pittsburgh. Attached to the Diocese of Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John Henry Luers on August 2, 1863. He then served as the first resident pastor in Attica, also attending to the nearby missions, until 1870, when he was transferred to Columbia City. In 1872 he became chancellor of the diocese and pastor of St. Mary's Church in Fort Wayne. He served as pastor of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Lafayette from 1880 to 1883.

On April 3, 1883, Rademacher was appointed the fourth Bishop of Nashville, Tennessee, by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 24 from Archbishop Patrick Feehan, with Bishops Joseph Gregory Dwenger and John Ambrose Watterson serving as co-consecrators. Following the death of Bishop Dwenger in January 1893, Rademacher returned to Indiana and was named the third Bishop of Fort Wayne on July 15, 1893. Unlike his predecessor, he was known as a mild and approachable leader. He was disabled by a stroke in early 1899, and was admitted to St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne and afterwards, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago. Rademacher later died at St. Elizabeth's, aged 59.