Kerssenbrock

Father Joachim “Addi” von Kerssenbrock, S.J.

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Father Joachim “Addi” von Kerssenbrock, S.J., a missioner to Zimbabwe who also served as long-time chaplain at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, died Jan. 7 at Murray-Weigel Hall, the Bronx. He was 85.

He served 15 years in Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia, at the Sinoia Mission of the Society of Jesus. In 1976, he was assigned to New York, where he worked with German immigrant families. He also worked to raise funds to assist German families in the diaspora, particularly in Eastern Europe, as executive director of the American St. Boniface Society, a fund-raising organization of the German Bishops’ Conference.

He was chaplain to the Kolping Society of Brooklyn and served on the board of Leo House in Manhattan. He frequently celebrated Mass in German at parishes in the New York area.

He served as chaplain at Mount St. Michael, 1978-2005.

Born in Schurgast, Poland, (formerly Germany), he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1949. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1959 and professed final vows in 1962. A brother, Rembert, survives him.

A Funeral Mass was offered Jan. 12 at the Murray-Weigel Chapel. Burial was at the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville.

Father Joachim “Addi” von Kerssenbrock, S.J.