Remembering and Reconnecting with Phil Runkel
Phil Runkel, the longtime Catholic Worker archivist at Marquette University, recently suffered a broken hip. Rosalie Riegle took the news as an opportunity to offer this fond remembrance.
I attended my first national Catholic Worker (CW) gathering in 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a momentous journey, and the person I remember the most from that meeting was the Catholic Worker Archivist at Marquette University, Phillip Runkel. Phil joined Marquette in 1977 and retired in 2021, and during these years he shepherded Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Archives with care, concern, and a penchant for detail. He also looked after the archives of several other radical organizations, but from the first, his heart was with the Catholic Worker.
One of the times I remember from that first meeting in Las Vegas was his unforgettable “Catholic Worker Trivia” contest at the Saturday evening Talent Show, the often-hilarious performances which became a feature of many CW events. You can try your hand with these trivia questions, via Lincoln Rice (Casa Maria Catholic Worker, Milwaukee), who got it from a recent online Catholic Worker gathering; some of the questions were made by Phil.
For years, he held them at the Midwest CW fall gathering at Sugar Creek, and once he and his mother, Lydia Runkel, did a hilarious reading of both laudatory and scurrilous letters to Dorothy.
The image of Phil Runkel that will remain forever in my heart, though, was out at the Nevada Test Site during the 1987 gathering, where many of us were ritually arrested for crossing a line in the sand that forbids entry into the center of the test site. There in the blazing sun knelt Phil, in his signature suit and tie, patiently waiting with others to be handcuffed and walked to the temporary enclosure. We were all soon released, and many have returned time and time again. Here we are walking to a later Nevada Test Site protest.
Even though Phil has now retired from his illustrious career as the Catholic Worker Archivist, he would regularly spend all his vacation time at either CW gatherings or other protests. He calls himself a “weekend resister.”
When I visited the Marquette University Archives and began working with Phil, I was collecting and editing my first oral history, published in 1993 by Temple University Press as Voices from the Catholic Worker. I have to say that if it weren’t for the months of help from him, our talented and indefatigable Archivist, it would not have been finished. It was from him and the boxes of CW archives he brought to me, sitting in a quiet room in the basement of the old library, that I learned enough to do the interviews and edit them for publication. He has remained my friend ever since, even in retirement, but we rarely connect person-to-person, now that I no longer drive.
So I was deeply saddened to learn from Lincoln Rice that Phil had fallen and broken his hip, been hospitalized and had surgery, and then sent to a rehab center where he has started what appears to be a successful recovery. He is now staying at an extended stay hotel, and he won’t be able to return to his home for at least two months as it suffered extensive winter damage. Here is his current address and cell phone number.
Phillip Runkel
325 N. Brookfield Rd., #113, Brookfield, WI 53045
Cell: (262) 317-9368.
The cover photo of Phil Runkel is courtesy of Mary Farrell.
I have spoken to him several times, and am so glad we reconnected. If you know him, please reach out to him as well, by sending cards and making phone calls. I’m sure he’ll welcome hearing from you.
