NAZARETH House recently mourned the loss of one of its residents, a retired priest who was very active in various parishes before he retired to the home in Berea.
Father Petrus Johannes Josephus van Heeswijk, known to all as Father Pieter Van Heeswijk, was born in the Netherlands on 3 September 1928, and died at Nazareth House on 8 September, just days after his 92nd birthday.
Father Pieter was ordained to the Order of Diaconate in December 1955 after completing his philosophical and theological studies, and on 26 May 1956 he was ordained to the Order of Priesthood. Between the years 1956 and 1963 he ministered to the refugees in Germany and also worked as an Assistant Priest in the Netherlands.
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He arrived in South Africa in October 1963. Between 1963 to 1966 he resided in Emmanuel Cathedral while supplying in Durban North Parish and St Joseph’s Parish. He spent the last half of 1966 learning IsiZulu at Seven Oaks. Father Pieter ministered as Parish Priest in the Archdiocese of Durban at Our Lady of Good Help in Verulam, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Ekukhanyeni, and Immaculata, KwaMadlala in Pietermaritzburg.
For the last years of his active ministry he was a priest-in-residence and assisting in Emmanuel Cathedral and in Sacred Heart Parish in Woodlands. He retired to Nazareth House Durban and was called to his eternal home on 8 September. A special 92nd birthday was celebrated with him on 2 September.
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