Father Francis Joseph Schenk, a Glenmary Home Missioner for 66 years, died April 11 in Cincinnati. He was 102.
He spent many years of ministry in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas. Father Schenk had a special heart for the Latino community, ministering many years in Colombia.
In the 1990s, he served at St. Luke Church in Warren, working with the Hispanic community. According to a 1998 Arkansas Catholic article, he often translated documents for families so they could “apply for a driver’s license or telling parents what a teacher’s note says about their son or daughter.”
The article noted Father Schenk suffered from near blindness since 1992, but still managed to tend his 2,000-square foot garden.
