Fr. Vincent Foerstler, OP |
Fr. Robert
Vincent Foerstler, OP
May 1, 1931 – August 4, 2006
Fr. Vincent Foerstler died almost exactly
55 years after receiving the Dominican habit. But of course his vocation started long before that August
14, 1951 date. He recalled that he “always had that desire to serve the Lord.” His desire to serve the
Lord led him to missionary work as a young priest.
In 1963, he accepted a challenging
assignment in Mexico. Following the Second Vatican Council, which called for a more active role by the
Church in preserving human dignity through social, economic, and political means, our Province established
a mission in Ocosingo, Chiapas in southern Mexico. The first team was comprised of Vincent, Fr. Joseph
Asturias and Br. Raymond Bertheaux. The mission’s territory was a daunting 6,200 square miles in a
dangerous region of mountains, jungles and political unrest. They didn’t know what they were getting
into, but as one of his lifelong friends remarked, “Vincent was a farm boy and tough kid. He worked hard
and had a stubborn streak. But he was also a fun guy who we all enjoyed being around.”
These characteristics served him in good
stead in his 17 years in Chiapas. Life as a missionary was difficult, days were long and disease was
always a threat, as were dangers from wild pigs, pumas, jaguars and venomous snakes. Travel, necessary in
such a vast territory, was by boat, walking countless miles and by horseback. Vincent recounted, “The
first few days learning how to ride were the most painful experience of my life!”
When he returned to the US from Mexico, he
maintained his fluency in Spanish ministering to the migrant workers in the Rogue River Valley near
Ashland Oregon for a couple years, then it was back to Mexico for five years in our Mexicali mission.
After a few other stateside assignments, he got back to his beloved Mexico for one last time from 1996 to
1999.
His last assignment to St. Dominic’s in Benicia
was something of a homecoming for this Vallejo native son and it was a blessing for Vincent to be close to
longtime friends and surrounded by his Dominican community at the time he was diagnosed with a brain
tumor. It is said that over 200 parishioners volunteered to help him after the diagnosis.
In his own words, Vincent’s whole life was a
joyful prayer, “a cooperative effort with God; an ongoing dialogue.” In this, he inspired admiration,
emulation and love but his last challenge was perhaps his greatest and the one that inspires us with his
gifts of grit, humor, stubbornness and most of all, trust in “the grace of God within us to stay strong
and make the most of the days we have left.” This grace-filled embrace of his last difficult years was
typical of Vincent’s generous heart, deep faith, and his love of God and the people of God.
- Mary Moyce
|
