Fr. Joseph Hinders, C.PP.S., always appreciated the way God’s love was manifested in all creation. He especially loved seeing the world in bloom in the growing months. He loved flowers and loved to garden. He also loved to see the spark of God in all people.

A member of the United States Province, Fr. Hinders died on April 8 at the age of 86, from complications after a fall. For the past 10 years, he made his home at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio, where he helped with the community garden for as long as he was able.

He also spent his years as a priest in parish ministry, served as a teacher at the Missionaries’ high school seminary, and served in La Oroya, Peru.

In 1988, he requested a leave from the Community. He was laicized in 1994. In 1990, he married Mercy Escobar. He and Mercy lived first in South St. Louis where he worked for the St. Louis Department of Corrections, then in El Salvador, where he taught English. Mercy died in 2007.

In 2009, he requested to be reincorporated with the Missionaries. He received permission and was definitively incorporated and reinstated as a Missionary of the Precious Blood on May 25, 2010.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday, April 17, at 2 p.m., with Fr. Andy O’Reilly, C.PP.S., presiding. Burial will follow in the Community cemetery.