József Wech was born as József Wech in
Dorog in the then-
Austro-Hungarian Empire on 29 October 1909 to the German-native farmers Sebastian Wech and Maria Puchner. He received his
baptism on 31 October and later received his
Confirmation in Dorog on 23 May 1920. He received his schooling from the
Order of Friars Minor but in spring 1925 moved to Péliföldszentkereszt where he studied under the
Salesians of Don Bosco. He grew homesick several times and made several trips back home but his parents did not like this and were prompt in sending Wech back to the Salesians' care. He desired to enter the order but was advised – due to medical grounds – to spend a few months of rest at home before being admitted. Before this he had confided in his parish priest about this wish and that priest in turn introduced him to the Salesians. His
novitiate spanned for a brief period from 1927 when he entered until 1928. He made his perpetual profession into the order on 13 August 1932 in Péliföldszentkereszt. In
Turin he underwent his
theological studies and was
ordained to the
priesthood there in
the basilica on 5 July 1936. He asked to be sent to the missions and his superiors sent him to
Central America via a boat on 9 August. He was sent to the island nation of
Cuba to
Guanabacoa where he arrived on 25 August. He became a Cuban national and changed his name from Wech to Vandor Puchner. He was there as a chaplain until 1940 when he became the rector of the Agricultural School in
Moca in the
Dominican Republic. He was known for his wisdom and prudence and so was chosen as the new
novice master in 1943 and held that position until 1946. In 1946 he became the administrator to the College of Arts and Trades in
Camagüey. From 1948 to 1951 he served as a confessor in
Santiago de Cuba and in 1951 was made a confessor and chaplain to a female religious order. On 9 December 1954 he was put in charge of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in
Santa Clara (he arrived there on that date) and was appointed around the same time to oversee the building of the school of arts and trades. In 1958 during the
Battle of Santa Clara – the last final conflict in
the revolution – he endangered his own life as a mediator to broker a truce and lives were saved thanks to his efforts. When the school opened he was appointed as its rector and he held that position until 1961 when
Communism surged and schools passed into the hands of the
new Minister for Education. He was named as the rector of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at a later stage and in 1965 became its first parish priest. He died in Santa Clara on 8 October 1979; from 1976 he had been in a
wheelchair due to a serious illness he had contracted. He had suffered from
ictus at this time and also struggled with
hepatitis and
arthrosis but never complained and remained silent about his various ailments.
Exhumation His remains were exhumed on the morning of 8 August 2016 in the presence of the Salesian priest and vice-postulator Rafael Giordano and Bishop Fernando Ramon Prego Casal. On the evening of 10 August there was the formal recognition of the remains that the doctor Noel Pablo Gómez led in a private setting before the Bishop Arturo González Amador and the Salesian priest Bruno Roccaro. Also in attendance were the
deacon José Gálvez and Ms. Xiomara Hernández as witnesses and Father Juan Manuel Fernandez as a
notary. Documents were signed to confirm that the exhumation had indeed taken place and his remains were placed into a new urn. ==Beatification process==