Crosier Father James “Jim” Hendrikus Engelbertus Remmerswaal, 86, died Feb. 7 at Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the Crosier Priory in Onamia with a vigil and visitation at 10 a.m. A luncheon will follow. A private inurnment is planned for the priory cemetery columbarium.
One of three children, he was born Sept. 1, 1938, in Dordrecht, Holland, to Engelbertus Remmerswaal and Cornelia Tillemans. He attended St. Joseph grade school in Heerlen, the Netherlands, before attending Crosier Seminary in Uden, the Netherlands. He entered the Crosier novitiate in 1958 and completed his philosophy studies at the Crosier House of Studies in Zoeterwoede, the Netherlands, and his theological studies at the Crosier House of Studies in Diest, Belgium.
Father Remmerswaal made his first profession of vows Aug. 28, 1959. After his solemn profession Aug. 28, 1962, he moved to the United States to continue his studies in theology at the Crosier House of Studies in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at St. Francis College in Fort Wayne. He was ordained to the priesthood June 19, 1965, in his home parish in Heerlen and briefly worked in a parish there. In 1966, he returned to the U.S. to serve on the faculty of the Crosiers’ Our Lady of the Lake Seminary in Syracuse, Indiana. He taught there for six years.
After becoming a U.S. citizen in August 1971, Father Remmerswaal was called to further missionary service. He served in Papua, Indonesia, and later ministered at several parishes in Michigan. In 1985, the Order called him to serve in the headquarters in Rome; he was the assistant to the master general and secretary from 1985 to 1997. In 1998, he returned to the United States permanently and spent the next two decades in parish ministry in Minnesota as well as six years as prior of the Crosier Community of Onamia. He served as pastor of St. Mary in Milaca and St. Louis Bertrand in Foreston until his retirement in 2019.
Father Remmerswaal is survived by his brother, Martin Remmerswaal, and sister-in-law, Clara Remmerswaal-van Poll; his sister, Nelly Loop-Remmerswaal; his niece, Yolande Schonewille-Remmerswaal and her husband, Eric Schonewille; his nephews René Remmerswaal and his wife, Kath Remmerswaal-Mc Ivor, and Carlo Loop; and his Crosier confreres in Phoenix and Onamia and around the world. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorials are preferred to the Crosier Fathers and Brothers, Box 500, Onamia, MN 56359-0500.