Br. Baldwin of Jesus

Leopold Witzleben was born on October 25, 1858, the son of Herman and Maria Ziegner Witzleben. In 1866 the family left for St. Louis, Missouri, in search of a relative and they arrived in the midst of a typhoid epidemic where Leopold's parents died and six orphans remained. The children were placed in St. Vincent's Catholic Orphan Home for German children. Leopold entered the Novitiate at Carondelet in June of 1870 where he received the religious name of Brother Baldwin of Jesus. His younger brother, Ewald, entered the Brothers in 1873, to become Brother Camillus Bernian, but left in 1875. Later, Ewald was cited by Congress for his work with American Indians and was made a member of the Sioux nation. Brother Baldwin of Jesus began teaching at La Salle, Illinois, and taught at St. Mary's and St. Joseph in Carondelet. He later taught at St. Patrick's and St. Mary's, both in New Orleans. His teaching assignments took him to St. Bridget's and CBC in St. Louis and to St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1877 he was assigned to St. Patrick's in Chicago where he was teacher or Director for twenty-three years. He was Director of Novices and Director of CBC, St. Louis, as well as Director of De La Salle in Chicago. He was the first Director appointed to Cathedral High School in Duluth and was Inspector of Schools in Santa Fe, as well as Director General of La Salle Institute in Glencoe for five years. In 1915 he was named President of Christian Brothers College in Memphis and on October 15, 1916, he was appointed Visitor of the St. Louis District, and he was present at the Chapter of 1923 that lifted the ban on teaching Latin. In 1925 he was appointed Director of the Superior Scholasticate in Chicago but died a year later at age sixty-eight, having been a De La Salle Christian Brother for fifty-six years.