Father Johan van Brakel passed away

The day after Christmas 2020, Father Johan van Brakel SMA passed away at the Mission House in Cadier en Keer. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the funeral took place privately.

Father Johannes Bernardus van Brakel was born on April 2, 1930, in Luttenberg, Overijssel. On July 15, 1955, he joined the Society for African Missions. A year later, on July 16, 1956, he was ordained a priest. That same year, he was sent as a missionary to Ghana, where he was active in Winneba, Cape Coast, Eikwe, Takoradi, and Sefwi-Wiawso, taking on various pastoral and administrative duties.

In 1968, he returned to the Netherlands to become the economist of the Dutch province. After four years, he returned to Ghana, where he worked in Accra, Cape Coast, and Assin Foso, among other places. In 1978, Johan van Brakel was again called to the Netherlands for an administrative position. He lived alternately in SMA houses in Nijmegen and Oosterbeek, where he was active as a member of the provincial board and as provincial archivist, secretary, and for a time also house superior.

Since 1999, Johan van Brakel lived at the Mission House in Cadier en Keer, where he continued to work on the SMA archives and also managed the financial administration. In 2017, he retired permanently due to declining health. Johan van Brakel passed away on December 27, 2020. A private funeral took place on December 30, after which he was laid to rest at the SMA missionary cemetery in Cadier en Keer.