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. Vigil Service, June 14, 2015 |
On Tuesday, Fr. Fred Hoesli, our priest in residence, passed away quite unexpectedly. Fr. Fred had experienced some serious health issues over the past few months but for all practical purposes seemed to be recovering from them. So while he had been ill recently this is still a shock for me and the Hoesli family.
He was a devoted servant of God and God’s holy Church, always ready to provide pastoral, sacramental and spiritual support at St. Francis de Sales, Our Lady of the Lake, the Ottawa County jail, the hospital and nursing homes. He was a member of the Dominican Order, also called the Order of Preachers, and Fr. Fred will certainly be missed for how he preached the love and mercy of Christ our Savior in his homilies and with his life.
Visitation took place June 14th and his funeral Mass was celebrated June 15th. Representatives of the Eastern Providence of the Dominican Order of which Fr. Fred was a member were present, as well as priests and deacons from our diocese. Video of both are linked under Fr. Fred's picture on the right.
Please continue to keep in your prayers the parish of St. Francis de Sales, its staff and clergy, the Dominicans, and the Hoesli family. May the peace of Christ rest upon all who loved Fr. Fred and all people he loved.
Hasten to meet him, angels of the Lord!
Receive his soul and present him to God the Most High.
May Christ, who called you, take you to himself;
may angels lead you to the bosom of Abraham.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Obituary
HOESLI, FREDERICK DAMIEN, O.P.
Jubilarian
Born: Oct. 26, 1929
Professed: Aug. 16, 1958
Ordained: Jun. 11, 1964
Died: Jun. 9, 2015Father Frederick Damien Hoesli, O.P., died peacefully on June 9, 2015, in the Tender Care Home in Holland, MI, after a short illness, at the age of 85. Fr. Hoesli dedicated thirty years of his life to St. Vincent Ferrer—the priory, the parish, and the high school. He is survived by his brother, Robert Hoesli; his sister, Mary Bekker; and his sister Helen and her husband Donald Anderson—all of Holland, MI.
Father Hoesli was born Oct. 26, 1929, in Hemlock, MI, to Frederick Daniel Hoesli and Sara Josephine (néeCollier) Hoesli and named Frederick Thomas. He attended St. Francis Xavier Grammar School in Petoskey, MI, Petoskey High School, and then Hope College in Holland, MI, and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, earning a Bachelors degree in History and Political Science in 1956.
He entered the Dominican Novitiate in August of 1957 at St. Joseph, Somerset, OH, and received the religious name Damien. He made his first profession at St. Joseph’s on August 16, 1958 and his solemn profession at Sacred Heart Church in Monmouth Beach, NJ in August of 1961. He studied Philosophy in Dover, MA, and Theology at the PFIC in Washington, DC. On June 11, 1964 he was ordained a priest at St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, DC. After ordination, Fr. Hoesli was assigned to Sacred Heart Priory in Jersey City, NJ, where he served on the parish staff for two years.
In March of 1967, Fr. Hoesli was assigned to St. Vincent Ferrer Priory in New York City where he would serve for the next thirty years. He was intimately involved in the administration of the Priory, St. Vincent Parish, and St. Vincent High School. He served as a parochial vicar for the parish, as subprior and procurator of the community, as Director and Financial Advisor of St. Vincent Ferrer High School, and as moderator for Club Dominicana. Although busy with St. Vincent Ferrer, he also served the province on the Economic Council and the Retirement Allowance Committee. He was beloved especially by faculty and students for his work not only maintaining the physical plant of the high school but also with fund raising and alumae relations as well. Upon his departure, an alumae of St. Vincent Ferrer High School praised him for his dedication and noted that for her “Saint Vincent Ferrer and Father Hoesli—the two were to be synonymous.”
In 1997, he returned to Holland, MI, and began assisting at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Parish and serving the local church in parishes, hospitals, and local prisons.
On Sunday, June 14, at 5:00 pm his body will be received at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Parish, 195 W. 13thSt. Holland. A visitation will be held Sunday at the parish from 5:00-8:00 pm with a wake service at 7:30 pm. The Mass of Christian Burial will at celebrated there on Monday, June 15, at 11:00 am. Interment will follow later in the week at the Dominican Cemetery located at St. Joseph Church in Somerset, OH.
Arrangements are by the Dykstra Funeral Homes, Downtown Chapel, 29 East 9th St.
Please visit www.dykstrafuneralhome.com to sign an online registry or to leave a memory.
El martes, 9 de junio, la parroquia de San Francisco de Sales experimentó una gran pérdida, el P. Fred Hoesli, OP falleció inesperadamente. A pesar de que su salud había ido disminuyendo desde hace algunos meses, su muerte fue muy inesperada y profundamente sentida por su familia, sus amigos de San Francisco de Sales y la comunidad de Holland, y todos nuestros feligreses que han llegado a conocerlo y amarlo. Por favor, eleva tu corazón en oración y acción de gracias por este servidor de la Iglesia, el Padre Fred, que vamos a extrañar. Que los ángeles le lleven al paraíso.
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