In Memoriam: The Very Rev. Joseph Hirsch
The Very Rev. Joseph Hirsch, rector of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral here, fell asleep in the Lord on the afternoon of August 24, 2009, after a brief illness.
Father Joseph was born in Kansas City, MO and was received into the Orthodox Church in 1975 from the Episcopal Church. He was the founding pastor of Saint Theodore of Tarsus Orthodox Church, Kansas City, MO. In July 1984, he was released to the Diocese of the West and named rector of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral.
Globeville, the section of Denver in which the cathedral is located, was a depressed neighborhood when Father Joseph, Matushka Paulette, and their three sons, David, Joseph and Benjamin arrived. Father Joseph and Matushka organized a neighborhood association which over the years was able to bring a diverse community together and make substantial improvements to the neighborhood. Far from being an isolated island of Orthodox Christianity in the middle of a dying part of the city, the cathedral became in a very real sense the center of Globeville.
From its foundation in 1898, Holy Transfiguration Cathedral served a diverse community of Orthodox faithful. Carpatho-Russians, Serbs, Greeks, Syrians, and a host of converts from every imaginable background have found the Cathedral to be a spiritual home and Father Joseph to be a loving image of Christ, the good Shepherd, who genuinely gave His life for His flock.
Father Joseph served for many years as the dean of the Rocky Mountain Deanery, as a member of both the Diocesan and Metropolitan Councils, and the respected elder brother of the area’s Orthodox clergy.
Father Joseph was also a well known and respected teacher and a member of the faculty of Regis University in Denver.
Further information will be posted as it becomes available on the OCA web site at http://www.oca.org and in the Fall 2009 issue of “The Orthodox Church.”
On Saturday, August 29, the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist will be celebrated at Holy Transfiguration Cathedral at 10:00 a.m., with the Vigil celebrated at 6:00 p.m. Father Joseph’s body will repose at the cathedral throughout the night, during which a Vigil of psalm reading will be kept.
On Sunday, August 30, the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Father Joseph’s body will be transferred to Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Denver, where a panikhida will be celebrated at 7:00 p.m.
The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at Assumption Cathedral at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, August 31. The Rite of Burial of a Priest will begin at 10:00 a.m., followed by interment, after which a memorial dinner will be held at Holy Transfiguration Cathedral.
Further information will be posted as it is received.
May God grant His servant, the Archpriest Joseph, eternal rest and shine the light of His countenance upon him.