Father Henk Zengers S.M.A. passed away

Father Henk Zengers SMA passed away on Monday, March 17, at the Bergweide care center in Heerlen. The funeral took place on Tuesday, March 25, in Mheer, where he served as pastor for many years. He was 90 years old.

Henricus Joseph Maria Zengers was born in Maastricht on January 16, 1935. On July 15, 1958, he became a member of the Society for African Missions. A year later, on July 16, 1959, he was ordained a priest. That same year, he was sent as a missionary to Ghana.

From his arrival until 1960, he stayed in Winneba for the so-called Tirocinium, a kind of introductory period. Between 1960 and 1965, he worked as a chaplain in Bechem, Obuasi, and Teppa. From 1965 to 1975, he was pastor of the parish in Kwesibuokrom. Simultaneously, in 1973, he had already taken over the care of the diocesan hospital of the Sunyani diocese. He continued this alongside his parish work until 1987, even after he was appointed pastor of Chiraa in 1975.

In 1987, Father Zengers was recalled to the Netherlands to become assistant economist and later economist of the Dutch province of SMA. During that time, he lived in the SMA monastery in Oosterbeek. Between 1995 and 2001, he was also a member of the SMA board.

In 2001, at the age of 66, he was appointed pastor of the Lambertus parish in Mheer and later also of the Gertrudis parish in Sint-Geertruid, near his birthplace of Maastricht. In 2020, Father Zengers retired and moved into the Mission House in Cadier en Keer. Due to his health, he was admitted to the Bergweide care center in Heerlen last year. He died there on March 17.

Father Zengers was a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau. A very well-attended funeral took place in Mheer on Tuesday, March 25th. He was subsequently laid to rest at the missionary cemetery in Cadier en Keer.