Father Kenneth Hoesing gets Harvard priest assignment

By Isabelle Nussbaum

Father Kenneth Hoesing will begin a new priest assignment In Harvard, Nebraska toward the end of the summer. At his new assignment, Father Hoesing will be participating in Hispanic ministry while also teaching at Hastings Catholic Schools.

“Spanish was my first major in in college; I’d always had it in the back of my mind that maybe someday I would do Hispanic ministry,” Father Hoesing said.

He will be traveling to Guatemala on June 1 to study Spanish Language immersion and one-on-one training and is set to return July 20. He is set to go on this retreat with two diocesan seminarians and two School Sisters of Christ the King. After his trip, he plans to go on a religious retreat, take a vacation and then move into his new residence in Harvard, Nebraska.

Father Hoesing was ordained a priest in 1997. He decided to become a priest during his college years; he felt like he was missing something when others were leaving for the seminary. He attended the seminary for one year in Toronto, Canada and four more years in Yonkers, New York.

Father joined the Sacred Heart community in 2011 when he moved to Dawson, started his church and was hired as a teacher. He has taught at Sacred Heart for thirteen years and his favorite part about it is the interaction within the school community, especially the staff. Father Hoesing has taught in four different schools including Pius X, St. Mary’s Elementary School in Fairbury and Aquinas High School in David City.

In his free time, Father Hoesing likes to spend time listening to music, cooking, running or reading a good book. His favorite Sacred Heart tradition is the Booster Club Auction Fun’d Night because it is fun to see the entire community come together and put on a big, festive event. Father Hoesing’s favorite thing about being a priest is that it is not very boring. He believes that there are always people to meet, things to learn and many, many reasons to pray and celebrate the sacraments.