Fr Kurt was a great Parish Priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral Parish who was joyful and supportive to everyone. He focused on the most needy and supported the St. Vincent De Paul programme to reach the nine communities around the Belmopan area and reaching over 1,000 children every year with school supplies and needy families with basic needs packages. He also gave a space so that Parishioners could tutor children in Maths, English, Spanish, Literature, History, Geography, to name a few subject areas and children who had limited or no access to after school support on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm. He was very strong and committed to his faith. His leadership in strengthen your faith daily, continues to live on in many. May His Soul continue to Rest In Peace!

Dear Kurt,

remembering you these days, and the good times we could share together.

Thank you !

Love,
Anna, Frank and Francis

Fr. Kurt Kassebeer, died as the Reverend Priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Belmopan, Belize one year ago. He has left us with good teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He gave his whole life to the church to be a servant; starting from Baptism and conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders. May his soul rest in peace and rise in Glory. As Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever ..."

Dear Kurt,

It has been one year now since you passed away and left us.
We are still very sad, the misery is still present but we wont let us be overwhelmed with it. We know that through Jesus Christ that we have
everlasting life. We talked today about the precious moments that
we shared during your regular trips to Germany and the vacations we spent together in Belize. We are also very lucky to have many pictures taken of us together.
We are lighting up a candle shining for you and the great moments you shared with us.

Anna, Frank and Francis

I pray that Father Kurt soul rest in peace. He was a most dedicated pastor and will forever be remembered. I remember how he used to stand at the front door of church and welcome the people as they came to church and would do the same after recession. His warm smile and words was what people would take home. Rest in peace, Father Kurt.

For Kurt from your sister Margot and your brother in law Hans

“When we come into this world, then we cry and the others smile -
When we leave this world, then we smile and the others cry.”

Fr. Kurt had a cheerful nature and so we want to act in his senses, keeping our tears back and tell a few anecdotes from his vacations with us in Germany. We believe, that he is smiling where he is now ...

During our trips we like to go in the afternoon to a café to have a cup of coffee with a piece of cake. Fr. Kurt did not like coffee, but cake. So then he prefered to eat apple pie with Coke - a very original combination.


For a typical Belizean dish we bought the ingredients in a supermarket. On our question if he knew how to prepare it, he replied: "Sorry, I do not, but I know how to eat it!"


Fr. Kurt loved the German sausages for supper, but he knew that he should not eat too much meat products. So he prepared the last sandwich always with cheese and ate it with the remark: "Now I do penance!"


Fr. Kurt could be very quiet sometimes. Here is an example: We watched a report about Belize on TV. In the report, a priest came to speak. Fr. Kurt said nothing and looked further. At the end of the report we asked Fr. Kurt if he knew the priest. With the most naturalness he replied: "Of course, he represents me now during my staying here." Without our question, we would have probably never experienced this.



These and many more happy memories help across the mourning and so Fr. Kurt remains as a very lovable brother in our memory. We will have a mass for him in our parish on coming Saturday (28.3.2015)

We are still in shock, but the entire family appreciates your warmth, love and support. Fr. Kurt is looking down and smiling. It was an honor to be able to attend on behalf of the family.

Fr. Kurt was the Pastor for St. Joseph Parish in Belize City where I first met him through his secretary My sister Jane Palacio. Later he was transferred to the Belmopan Parish where I reside. He continued to be the same person I meet years before. May he rest in peace and rise in the glory of God.

It is with a deep and profound sense of loss that I pen these words to the memory of Padre Kurt.

While we shared the same Alma mater of Lyman Agricultural College, we were in fact worlds apart in that he was a student of the 60's and I was a student of the 70's; in the life of a boy attending Lyman that was a quantum leap but yet our passion for plants was seamless in conversation. In fact, this past December, Fr. Kurt went at great lengths to show me the Christmas poinsettia collection and pointing out to me with great enthusiasm the several new hybrid of colours.

Father Kurt was often times misunderstood admittedly by my own self. I felt many of his homilies often missed developing the "Good News" of the gospels and on more occasions than one, I felt he did not do enough to recognize occasions to welcome visitors who attended a church service, be it our youths or reformed prisoners.I struggled to understand and accept this behaviour.

That all changed recently when I got my first glimpse into his humility this past Christmas. You see, a visiting friend of mine visiting from the USA told me that he would love to have his home in Belmopan blessed by the Catholic priest. I immediately volunteered Fr. Kurt and shortly after made the phone call to set a time and a date. To my great anxiety, on the day of the blessing , the family called me to ask whether I could push back the time due to some pressing time management constraints they were experiencing. Each time they changed the time, I reluctantly called Father Kurt and explained. On the third phone call, I truthfully expected Father to 'blow me off' his schedule as it was now nearing late evening. To my great surprise, Father Kurt said he understood and agreed to accommodate the ever changing time schedule of the request. Wow... I felt he had earned the right to say no and totally expected him to say so but he chose not to. I showed up at the rectory and he followed me in his vehicle to the residence; met the family and blessed the house for them; and then stayed on a bit to chat and share a bit about his life and the rich faith of the Church. It was all so good and I felt so very privileged then and more so now, to had experienced this warm and humble part of him.

That trait of humility was perhaps why Father Kurt so faithfully and so reliably showed up every day for mass when it was his duty to do so .... rain or shine. He was a good shepherd to the Catholic faithful flock that was entrusted to his spiritual care at OLOG and all the surrounding villages of Cayo South. That daunting and demanding task was routinely and devoutly tended until death forced his absence that morning by those awaiting his presence at the 6:00 AM mass.

I still find it very difficult to accept the fact and the reality that he is gone from our midst forever.He had succeeded to embed himself so faithfully in service to our Cathedral, that it is difficult to see anyone else but him saying mass. I had got so accustomed for him to be there and to do all that he did ...and for perhaps for those two reasons I struggle still. He was truly faithful to his call and faithfully read out a "prayer for priests" at the end of each morning mass. Today, that prayer seems prophetic.

My wife and I truly miss him; there was not a chance to say goodbye. I now marshal my thoughts and discipline myself to accept that his sudden departure from our midst is God's blessing in disguise and a lesson to the wise. May his soul truly rest in peace and his memory live on in the life of our church and in our own lives that were touch in one way or the other by Father Kurt.

Note to my beloved uncle from his nephew:
Dear Uncle Kurt, the bad news came as a shock to all of us. A member of my family is gone. I hope you are now at peace and achieved eternal bliss.
I would like to thank you for all the joyful moments we spent together, especially during our first encounter when I was a small boy. You always took good care of me in these days. The great times we had with you during all the holiday visits plus the times when you were here in Germany are very valuable memories for me. 
Thank you so much for all that!

Love, Francis

Fr. Kurt filled in as pastor for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in the late 1970's. Many in Benque have fond memories of him and we wish to extend our condolence on his demise. May he rest in peace.

Fr. Kurt was our pastor for many years. He would come at our small church early before mass and would have us practice the hymns for the mass. He became very familiar with our people and especially the children. He also exchanged plants with me cause he loved plants and took personal care for the plants for La Inmaculada Church in town. Rest in peace Fr. Kurt.

Tribute Contributed by Joseph Castillo:
           Tegucigalpa Honduras – 50 Years Ago
Some 50 years ago, Mr. George Price, who was on a trip to Honduras, visited four Belizeans, namely Kurt Kassebeer, Joseph Castillo, Santiago Boiton and Elias Pech, who were studying at the Seminario Mayor Nuestra Senora de Suyapa in the City of Tegucigalpa.
One of the four students was later ordained and became Rev. Kurt Kassebeer. Father Kurt, as he was fondly called, died early in the morning this past Tuesday in Belmopan. Our Belmopan and the wider Belize Community lost a dedicated servant of the Creator.
He was a genuine colleague, first at the Lynam Agriculture College in Stann Creek District and later at the Seminario Mayor Nuestra Senora de Suyapa in Honduras.
Father Kurt has gone to meet his Maker and to receive his reward for a job well done. We the graduates of Lynam, from across Belize and the world, wish him Bon Voyage! Farewell!
Joe Cas