Rev. Kurt Fohn

Father Kurt Mathias Fohn, 87, of Lexington, NC, passed away on June 6, 2022, in Winston-Salem after a short illness. During his last days, he was continuously surrounded by his family.

A Prayer Vigil will be held at 4:30 PM, Tuesday, June 14th followed by Visitation from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home, 6685 Shallowford Road, Lewisville, NC.

Funeral Liturgy will be held at 11:00 AM, Wednesday, June 15th at Holy Family Catholic Church, 4820 Kinnamon Road, Winston-Salem, NC.

Fr. Kurt is preceded in death by his wife, Christel (1995), his sister Karin Grüneberg (2012) and infant son Stefan (1962).

Fr. Kurt is survived by his children Deacon Steffen (Lori) Fohn of Lexington, NC, Angela (William) Salmon of Raleigh, NC, Christine Hinton of Crofton, MD, and Jennifer (Eric) Meyer of Downingtown, PA, his brother Gerhard Fohn of Kassel, Germany, and cousin Günther Schröder of Neumünster, Germany, his 13 grandchildren and 2 great-granddaughters.

Kurt was born in Gadeland, Neümunster, Germany to Michael and Käthe Fohn on April 12, 1935. Surviving World War II, he now had to survive post-war Germany. In Kurt’s own words, “It was a time of devastation and utter confusion”. God, religion, and church was not a part of his life. Kurt’s main love and talent was soccer – but his mother pushed her boys to become educated and financially successful. Following in his older brother Gerhard’s footsteps, Kurt studied chemical engineering at Textile Finishing School in Möchen-Gladbach, Germany. After graduation the brothers both went to work for BASF.

Kurt met his future wife Christel Eva Tausendfreund when he was 18. Christel and her family fled East Prussia at the end of the war and relocated to Neumünster, Germany. He said that he fell in love with her immediately. They were married November 1, 1960, in a Lutheran Church.

Growing up Kurt caught a glimpse of the Catholic faith from his father Michael and rare visits with Michael’s family in Belgium. But it was through work, when Kurt was 26, that he found himself in a “Philosophy of Life” discussion group. Wolfgang Stabel was the lone Catholic in this group. He, along with his friend Fr. Karl Bossung, ignited Kurt’s desire for the faith with logical explanations of the Church’s teachings. He became Catholic in 1964. Christel entered the Church at the same time, and they con validated their marriage.

In 1966 Kurt was offered a four-year assignment to Charlotte, NC and moved there with Christel and their two young children, Steffen, and Angela. Five years later they had two more daughters, Christine and Jennifer and made the US their permanent home. They joined St. Vincent De Paul Church and became devout parishioners.

In 1978 Kurt decided he wanted to do more than sit on the sidelines of his faith and was accepted into the Charlotte Diocese Deaconate Program. He transferred to NJ with BASF and finished his program in the Patterson Diocese. He served at Our Lady of the Magnificat in Kinnelon.

In 1991, the family once again moved back to Charlotte where they rejoined St. Vincent’s and Kurt settled into his role as a Deacon. Sadly, his wife Christel died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 58. Kurt retired shortly thereafter having worked 37 years with BASF.

In 1996 Kurt surprised his family with his application and his acceptance into Pope John Paul XXIII Seminary in Weston, MA. (Now Pope Saint John Paul XXIII) His children were supportive of their 62-year-old father answering the call to the priesthood. They gave him a bookbag and told him they wanted frequent reports on his grades.

On June 2, 2001, Kurt was ordained as a priest at St. Gabriel’s in Charlotte by Bishop Curlin and received his first of many assignments to St. Leo the Great in Winston-Salem. Over the next 13 years Fr. Kurt served the diocese in several parishes including St. Lucien in Spruce Pine, St. Bernadette in Linville, and St. Philip the Apostle in Statesville. He retired from St. Philip’s in 2013 at the age of 78 and moved in full-time with his son Steffen and his family. And because no priest ever really retires, he went right back to work at St. Leo’s celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, and visiting the sick.

Fr. Kurt was a loving husband, Papi and Opa. He was a lifelong athlete – enjoying soccer, boxing, and running - accomplishing a sub-3-hour marathon! Up until a few days before his death, he was still committed to riding his stationary bike for one hour every day. He enjoyed classical music, working in the yard, teak and leather furniture, Chick-Fil-a, a nice glass of Riesling and praying the Rosary. He also enjoyed numbers. Kurt estimated that over a 10-year period he ran over 25,000 miles – once around the globe, donated 65 gallons of blood to the Red Cross and celebrated 10,000 Masses. Fr. Kurt presided at the marriages of all his children and baptized all his grandchildren. Through it all God was always first and foremost. Fr. Kurt believed in the power of love, humility, suffering and accepting the cross as Jesus Christ did. He looked forward to his death and called heaven “a bliss of forever happiness”.

Fr. Kurt’s cremains will be inurned next to his wife in the columbarium at Holy Family Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to one of Fr. Kurt’s favorite charities: Room at the Inn https://www.roomin.org or Catholic Cross Outreach https://crosscatholic.org