Fr. Joseph Hinders, C.PP.S., 86, died at 3:50 p.m. Saturday, April 8, 2023, at St. Rita’s Medical Center, Lima, Ohio, where he was being treated following a fall at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio, where he made his home.
He was born on November 18, 1936, in Celina, Ohio, to Homer and Emma (Pax) Hinders. He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood at Brunnerdale, their former high school seminary in Canton, Ohio, in 1951, and was ordained on June 8, 1963.
Fr. Hinders taught at Cardinal Newman High School, Santa Rosa, Calif., after his ordination. He ministered at St. Joseph Parish in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and Holy Rosary in St. Marys, Ohio, before volunteering for the Missionaries’ mission in La Oroya, Peru in 1966.
He served there for four years before returning to the U.S. in 1970, when he was appointed an instructor at Brunnerdale. In 1981, he was transferred to Florida where he ministered to farm workers in the Diocese of Orlando. He also ministered at Resurrection Church in Winter Garden, Fla. He returned to Ohio in 1984 then ministered to the Hispanic community in Dayton.
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. He served as parochial vicar at St. James the Less Parish in Columbus from 2010-13 then retired to St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio. There, he helped tend the Community garden and ministered in area parishes as needed, particularly at St. Bernard Church in Burkettsville, Ohio.
He is survived by his adopted son, Juan Carlos Hinders, Baltimore; his sister, Marita (Gene) Pitstick, Akron, Ohio; a sister-in-law, Doris Hinders, Kettering; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by his brother John, John’s first wife, Jean, and his second wife, Virginia; his brother Urban; and sisters Mary (Richard) Rutledge and Louise Hinders.
Fr. Hinders had a searching mind and a wry wit. His gentle, introspective nature did not mean he wasn’t paying attention; his observations were usually on-target yet never to be feared. He was extremely kind and appreciated anyone who walked into the room. He liked taking care of people, and enjoyed his association with St. Bernard Parish in his later years. He wanted to be of service.
He also appreciated God’s creative powers, especially in the form of flowers. He was a conscientious gardener who knew how to make things bloom. Even when his physical strength ebbed and he was no longer able to spend much time outdoors, he surrounded himself with pictures of flowers, a reminder of hope and grace.
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. Fr. Jim Gaynor, C.PP.S., will be the homilist. Burial will follow in the Community cemetery.
Calling hours at St. Charles will be held on Sunday, April 16 from 1:30-7 p.m., and Monday until the beginning of Mass.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, United States Province.