American missionary who served India for 50 years dies

By Matters India Reporter

Techny, Sept 16, 2020: An American Divine Word missionary, who spent 50 years in India as a seminary trainer and promoter of inter-religious dialogue, has died. He was 100.

Father Felix Eckerman died September 13 at Divine Word Residence at Techny in the United States, after receiving Holy Communion. He was the oldest member of the Divine Word congregation’s Chicago province.

The funeral will be held on September 18 at Divine Word Residence, Techny.

For several days this past week, he had been requesting to go home to Ohio to see his family.

He celebrated his 100th birthday on January 3.

He was born to the late Felix John Eckerman and Catherine Steinbock.

Father Eckerman returned the US in 1998, said Divine Word Father Shiju Paul, an Indian missionary in the Americas.

Father Eckerman arrived in India soon after his final vows and priestly ordination in the USA in 1948. He was assigned to a remote and poor tribal village in the Diocese of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, central India.

After three years, he became a novice master in Khurdi in Indore diocese.

As the novice master, he animated a community of young religious from many different cultural backgrounds and language groups.

Father Eckerman also became the pastor of the local parish and established good relationships with both Christians and Hindus.

Father Richard Vaz, an Indian Divine Word missionary who knew Father Eckerman for years, recalled that the senior confrere had a tremendous impact on the young religious. He served the novitiate, situated in a quiet and remote jungle, for 12 years.

In 1968, he was appointed rector at Divine Word Seminary, Pune, Maharashtra.

During those years, the government restricted the arrival of new foreign missionaries into India and did not renew residency permits for veteran foreign missionaries. However, Father Eckerman was allowed to remain at the seminary as a spiritual director for nearly 30 years.

In 1998, he celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination. After 50 years of service in India, Father Eckerman decided to return to the United States in the same year. He looked forward to spending time with four of his sisters and hoped to do some ministry in active retirement.

He became chaplain to the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, often called the Pink Sisters, in St. Louis, Missouri.

After his retirement at Techny, he delighted confreres and visitors with his wit, charm, wisdom, and good-natured presence, Father Paul said.

Father Eckerman will be remembered for his great service to India as “a great teacher and holy man,” Father Vaz added.