Father Joachim “Addi” von Kerssenbrock, S.J., 85, died in his room at Murray-Weigel Hall, Bronx, on Jan. 7.
He was a Jesuit for 65 years and a priest for 55 years.
Born in Poland, he was ordained to the priesthood on July 31, 1959.
For 15 years he served as a mis- sionary in Zimbabwe. In 1976 he was assigned to New York to work with German immigrant families, and to raise funds to assist German families in the diaspora, mostly in Eastern Europe.
He was the executive director of the American St. Boniface Society, a fundraising organization of the German Bishops Conference.
In addition he was Chaplain and Praeses to the Kolping Society of Brooklyn, served on the board of Leo House, and frequently celebrated Mass in the German language in sever- al parishes in the New York area.
Burial at the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville, N.Y.
He is survived by his brother, Rembert von Kerssenbrock of Muenster, Germany.
My dear loyal friend Addi ever since we met at Pullach ,Munich, in1958 passed from this life a few days after we last spoke on the phone. May we meet again in the “life without. tears”. He was a great support to me during my ‘fight” with cancer.
He was my student on his teaching practice at St Edward’s College in Liverpool during the 1960s. I learned much from him, and think of him whenever I visit the Jesuit church in Schoeneburg. It was from him that I first heard of Bishop von Galen, who had been parish priest in Schoeneburg before 1939. He gave me my first insight into the German resistance.
May he rest in peace.
Dearly missed Grandpa. Thank you for the name and the Catholic faith.