Sacred Hearts Father Clement A. Geysen

Belgian Sacred Hearts Father Clement Geysen worked as a parish priest in Hawaii for 32 years

By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Sacred Hearts Father Clement A. Geysen, a Belgian Sacred Hearts missionary with an interest in photography and baking who labored 32 of his 42 years in Hawaii as a parish priest, died on Jan. 8 at St. Francis Hospice in Honolulu. He was a priest for 58 years and 85 years old at the time of death.

The Sacred Hearts priest served in six parishes on three islands and oversaw the building of a mission church on Maui and a school building on Oahu.

Father Geysen was born on Dec. 16, 1921, in Haasdonk-Wass, Belgium, the son of Joseph and Louise Tassijns Geysen. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and made his temporary vows on Sept. 15, 1944, in Zandhoven, Belgium. His final profession was made in Zandhoven on Sept. 15, 1947.

He was ordained a priest on July 25, 1949, also in Zandhoven.

Soon after his ordination in 1950, Father Geysen was assigned as a professor at the Brothers School in Zandhoven and became deeply involved in his country’s Family Movement Program from 1950 to 1964.

In 1964, he was sent to Hawaii, arriving in Honolulu on Dec. 31. After a period of orientation at Sacred Hearts Center, Kaneohe, he was appointed associate of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Wahiawa.

In 1969, he was named associate pastor of St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki and vicar of the parish’s St. James Mission in Palolo Valley. In 1971, he was assigned to Kauai as pastor of St Raphael Church in Koloa.

After eight years on Kauai, Father Clement was sent to Lahaina, Maui, on Sept 24, 1979, to be pastor of Maria Lanakila Church.

While on Maui, one of his greatest achievements was building a new Sacred Heart Mission Church in Kapalua. On the day of the blessing, Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario said it was one of the finest church structures he had ever seen.

Father Geysen returned to Oahu in July of 1983 as the pastor of St. Joseph Church and School in Waipahu. His reputation as a builder continued with the construction of a four-story classroom building for the parish’s elementary school.

Five years later, on Aug. 8, 1988, he became the associate pastor of St. Augustine Church in Waikiki. His active pastoral career came to an end when he retired at St. Patrick Monastery in Kaimuki on March 1, 1996.

Father Clement enjoyed photography and baking. His office walls and monastery room were filled with many of his artistic photographs. A special Damien Christmas card was produced with photos he took in Kalawao on Molokai. And the retired community at the Kaimuki monastery relished his raisin bread and apple turnovers.

According to Father Christopher Keahi, the local superior of the Sacred Hearts Fathers, Father Clement was a deep thinker who was not afraid to voice his opinions on a variety of subjects. He was also a man of great faith who trusted that the Lord would guide him throughout his priestly religious life.

Funeral services for Father Clement were held Jan. 17 at St. Patrick Church. He was buried the next day at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery in Kaneohe.

Father Geysen is survived by his sister Maria Gosselin-Geysen of Belgium.