ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — The Catholic community in the metro is mourning the loss of vibrant leader of faith.
Monday afternoon, a driver struck and killed 73-year-old Rev. Dennis Dempsey in Rosemount as he was riding his bicycle along County Road 42.
Officers responded to the area of County Road 42 and 145th Street West in Rosemount at 3:23 p.m. Police pronounced Dempsey dead at the scene.
Mary Langan, of Northfield, knew "Father Denny" during his 15 years at St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Northfield.
"He touched our hearts very, very, very deeply," said Langan. "He was such a special man.
Langan remembers how Dempsey stepped up during her time of need: over a decade ago, when her house was on fire.
"He had just gotten to Northfield and our house was burning down and he came to our house and gave us the keys to his rectory and said, 'You’re going to live with me. Come with me.' And we didn’t even know him," she said.
More recently, Dempsey had come to serve as the lead pastor at Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville, in July. There, Earl Jarchow was just getting to know him.
"He was a very, very kind person," said Jarchow, of Rosemount.
Dave Hutton, a 20-year parishioner and trustee at Church of the Risen Savior says the entire community is shocked.
"Shocking would be an understatement," Hutton said. "You felt cheated, because you had the blessing and the gift of this spiritual leader -- this truly wonderful man, and to have that loss all of a sudden...now, we're missing that."
Prior to serving at Church of the Risen Savior, Dempsey was a missionary for years in Venezuela. He delivered sermons in both English and Spanish.
Dempsey also spent time at a parish in St. Paul. Amy Bell remembers him presiding over her wedding.
"He just had a calm presence about him, that everything was going to be okay," said Bell.
Bell also shared a post to her Facebook page, reading, in part, "He was such a delightful and compassionate man of God and friend to all great and small."
The 26-year-old Minneapolis driver suspected of hitting Dempsey was arrested at the scene Monday on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with driving in a negligent manner. Authorities say the suspect was driving with a revoked license.
Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced Wednesday afternoon that the suspect had been released from jail pending results from the investigation, including crash reconstruction data from the Minnesota State Patrol.