Background on the Kokenge Family in Germany: 1987 letter sent by Reverend Willehad Kokenge

Below iare translations of letters sent by Rev. Willehad Kokenge to Bernadette Stenger nearly fifteen years ago. This letter provides insights into the historical background of our Kokenge ancestry in Germany.  Rev. Willehad Kokenge and his brother Hildebrand Kokenge died in Germany in 1994.If you would like to contact Mrs. Stenger, you can send her an e-mail message at this address:  "Bernie Stenger" <bstenger@nalu.net> 

Varrelbusch, January 4, 1987 

Highly esteemed Mrs. Stenger; 

Your letter of December 8, addressed to the rectory in Ramsloh, was forwarded to me by the resident pastor there. Rev. Adolf Kokenge departed this life June 13, 1935. He was my uncle. Through Uncle Adolf we first learned that a branch of the Kokenge family had settled in America. Uncle Adolf had made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (a thirty-day retreat) with a Jesuit priest . When this priest heard the name Kokenge, he told my uncle that he was acquainted with Father Kokenge ,a Jesuit in America. On this rests the brief connection with America. A picture of the American Jesuit was also sent. It must still be in my parents' home. The Kokenge family is very large, branching out in many directions. The family originated in Ehrendorf near Lohne in Oldenburg. My father, too, is a member of the original family at Ehrendorf. He had married in 1899 in a little village in Warnstedt near Cloppenburg. My parents had a family of ten children The two youngest were ordained to the priesthood. I am Rev. Willehad Kokenge, and my younger brother is a Franciscan, Father Hildebrand Kokenge, O.F.M. He lives in the Franciscan Friary 4410 Warendorf 1.  A priest, Professor C. Pagenstert, whose mother was a Kokenge, developed the family histories of all the families in Lohne. From him came the excerpt from the Kokenge family tree which Uncle Adolf had sent you. The name Kokenge first appeared in the yea4 1498. Already in my boyhood there existed this class of so-called Heuerlinge (hired persons), sons of farmers born later who occupied a house belonging to the village and with it received permission to lease a section of land in order to begin a family. So likewise the Heuerlinge Kokenge in Sudlohne are related to the Kokenge family in Ehrendorf, for Ehrendorf is the same as Sudlohne. It would interest me very much to know whether there are any persons in Indiana by the name of Kokenge, who are related to or are members of this family, as well as what occupations or professions they followed in life. Have all remained Catholic?  Has there been any priest to come from the Kokenge family in America? Naturally , all this is of great interest to us. You request traces or facts of the Kokenge family tree, in so far as it appeared in association with the Kokenge family in America. I thank you sincerely for your letter and for the enclosed two dollars (In the future this is not necessary).  A return letter from you would be most acceptable. Because of the much work and rush at Christmas time my letter had to be postponed; for this I apologize. With best wishes for the New Year and hearty greetings,

Rev. Willehad Kokenge

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Here is a second letter dated December 27, 1988,sent  from Willehad Kokenge retired parish priest at Garatenstrasse 4 2908 Friesoythe-Markhausen West Germany. 

We received the copies of the family tree of the Kokenges living in America. Many thanks. Our Uncle, Father Adolf Kokenge, did send you the family tree of the family Kokenge as far back as it was possible to ascertain. Our father was Bernard Kokenge. He married Anna Buschelange of Warnstedt in 1899. They had 10 children, six boys and 4 girls. August (now 90 years old) Elizabeth (86 years old) Josefa (84 years old) Ferdinand (83 years old) Ida (82 years old) Johannes (deceased at 79 years old) Engelbert (deceased at 72 years old) Maria (deceased at 75 years old ) Willehad (75 years old) and Bernard (73 years old, a Franciscan Monk in Warendorf) out of the ten brothers and sisters three died. Our father passed away in 1928. He was 60 years old. our mother passed away during the war in 1943, she was 67 years old. I, Willehad, am retired since March 19, 1988. This is the reason why I moved away from my old congregation and own and live with my sister in a small house. My new address is on the letter. There are no written-down family tree of my father's sisters and brothers. It is just about impossible to list all their names in this letter. My father was from Lohne and had eleven sisters and brothers. Everyone was married, except Father Adolf Kokenge. Most of the others were farmers. Our brother Ferdinand is in the clothing business in Nordenham. Our Uncle Ferdinand (my father's brother) was a physician in Vechta. Our oldest brother August has 6 children: five boys and one girl. Two of the boys are physicians, two are teachers, and one is an engineer (Landscaping). The girl is married to an accountant in Bremen. These are a few informations about our family. If someone should work out a detailed family tree over here, I shall be happy to send it to you. I am sorry, that I am not able to give you more detailed information at this time. If I were 20years younger I would enjoy to travel to the United States. I visited most countries in Europe. I am sorry I never saw the United States. Too bad. For the New Year I wish you all the best, especially health and happiness and God's blessings- sometime I shall write again.