Bishop John Raymond Gaydos

Bishop Emeritus John Raymond Gaydos, 82, who served as the third Bishop of Jefferson City from 1997 to 2017, died peacefully the morning of Saturday, September 6, 2025, at St. Agnes Retirement Home in Kirkwood, Missouri.

He was born on August 14, 1943, in St. Louis, the oldest of four sons of the late George and Carrie Lee (Pearson) Gaydos.

He attended St. Agnes School, St. Louis Preparatory Seminary High School, and Cardinal Glennon College.

He studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome while continuing his priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC).

He was ordained a transitional deacon in the Chapel of the Pontifical North American College on May 5, 1968.

On December 20 of that year, at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Bishop Francis F. Reh, ordained Bishop Gaydos to the Holy Priesthood.

Bishop Gaydos served for 28 years as a priest of the St. Louis archdiocese before becoming Bishop of Jefferson City.

On August 27, 1997, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, Archbishop Rigali ordained him the third Bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City.

In two decades as head of the diocese, Bishop Gaydos stayed focused on evangelization in light of sweeping demographic changes and the diminishing number of available priests.  Churches, schools and Newman centers were built or expanded on his watch.

In 2004, Emil Schwartz of Westphalia and the family of his brother, the late Alphonse J. Schwartze, donated the funding to build the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City, which Bishop Gaydos and his fellow Missouri Bishops blessed after its completion.

Other highlights of Bishop Gaydos’s tenure in Jefferson City were the establishment of a diocesan affiliate of Catholic Charities USA – Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, the opening of Fr. Tolton Regional Catholic High School in Columbia, the intensification of formation for permanent deacons, and the inviting of a new wave of missionary priests from around the world to minister here.

Bishop Gaydos served on many national Church committees, including the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ committees on world missions, communications, priestly life, administration, marriage and family life, and interreligious affairs, and the subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

After Archbishop McKnight’s ordination and installation on Feb. 6, 2018, Bishop Gaydos took up residence in the Cathedral of St. Joseph Rectory in Jefferson City, where he continued offering daily Mass, traveling, and keeping up with voluminous correspondence.

Bishop Gaydos moved to St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood in July of 2024.  “My heart remains in Jefferson City and I pray daily for all the local Church and everyone who is a part of it,” he stated at that time.

Survivors include his brother, Stephen (Sandy) Gaydos, St. Louis; a sister-in-law, Betty Gaydos, St. Charles; many nieces and nephews; a great niece and several great nephews; and other extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers, Mark (Cindy) Gaydos and Gary Gaydos.

Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. on Monday, September 15, 2025, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph with a Vigil Service and prayers at 7 p.m.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at 10 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, with Metropolitan Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis presiding and Archbishop Emeritus George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, preaching the homily.  Archbishop Shawn McKnight, who succeeded Bishop Gaydos as shepherd of the diocese, along with priests of this diocese and the St. Louis archdiocese, will concelebrate, along with other guest priests.

Both ceremonies will be open to the public and will be livestreamed on the Diocese of Jefferson City Facebook page.

Burial will be in the priests’ section of Resurrection Cemetery in Jefferson City.

Memorials are suggested to Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, 1015 Edmonds St, Jefferson City, MO 65109.

Services entrusted to Trimble Funeral Homes – Jefferson City.   trimblefunerals.com