As of: February 29, 2024, 6:00 p.m
By: Julia Adam
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Mourning for Ottenhofen's former mayor: Josef Kern has died at the age of 89.
He was always involved in a variety of things throughout his life - and a real family man.
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Mourning for Ottenhofen's former mayor: Josef Kern has died at the age of 89.
He was always involved in a variety of things throughout his life - and a real family man.
Unterschwillach – modest, close to home and humorous: This is how Josef Kern will be remembered by the people of Ottenhofen.
The former mayor died last Friday at the age of 89, surrounded by his family.
Josef Kern was particularly interested in making a difference in his homeland.
Even at a young age, “Kern Sepp”, as he is called in Unterschwillach, preferred actions to words and always expressed his deep connection to his home community.
There he continued to run his parents' farm from 1963 to 1999 as the long-awaited owner among five sisters.
Meanwhile, he dedicated his sparse free time with a lot of passion to volunteering in the community - always linked to his areas of interest.
As one of the founding members of the DJK Ottenhofen, he always kept up to date with the latest football events even after his active time in the football team.
He is also a founding member of the CSU local branch in Ottenhofen, the Maschinenring Erding and the Rural Youth Ottenhofen.
His deep-rooted faith was also reflected in Josef Kern's voluntary work.
He headed the Ottenhofen parish council for almost 20 years.
He also worked for the volunteer fire department, where he served as first commander from 1957 to 1975 and was ultimately appointed honorary commander.
Josef Kern is known beyond the Ottenhofen municipal boundaries primarily because of his political commitment.
While he helped shape his home community as a local councilor from 1972 to 1986 and also as chairman of the CSU local association from 1977 to 1986, he surprisingly had a 16-year career as mayor.
When the then head of the town hall, Josef Vogl, died in 1986, Kern, who held the office of deputy mayor at the time, moved up and took over the position of first mayor as well as that of chairman of the administrative community.
Offices in which Kern proved himself, because after the end of this electoral term he was re-elected for two more terms of office.
Despite the double burden of his duties in local agriculture, Josef Kern always listened to citizens and their concerns with an open ear until he resigned from office in 2002 at the age of 67 with a clear conscience.
With great modesty and gratitude he accepted the appointment as former mayor and honorary citizen.
The construction areas Ottenhofen West I and II, Pfarrpfründe and Ahamstrasse as well as Tainger Feld, among others, date back to his term of office.
He was also able to implement the new building yard, fire station and kindergarten as well as the expansion of the elementary school together with the local council at the time.
Privately, however, Josef Kern didn't need much to be happy.
He thoroughly enjoyed living with his wife Maria, whom he married after just one year, their children Josef and Marlene and their grandchildren Julia, Dominik and Tabea on the Unterschwillacher Hof.
In addition, the chirping of the birds, which he recognized by their singing, as well as the colorful flowers and diverse fruit trees in his garden - that made life worth living for him right up to the end, as his family agrees.
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However, Kern's life was never easy, as his children know.
He repeatedly had to struggle with illness and strokes of fate.
But just as often he surprised family and friends with his perseverance.
After a serious illness in 2020, he fought his way back to life in order to be able to enjoy four more years at the side of his loved ones.
“For us, he is the epitome of a stand-up man,” reveals his daughter.
He never complained.
Rather, he accepted the years with his family with deep gratitude.
It's not just his mischievous humor that will be missing.
“Especially because of his diverse interest in politics, sports, nature and world events, we will miss the good conversations and discussions with him,” says daughter Marlene.
His “kind-hearted nature” had a lasting impact on family life and will leave a big gap.
“It was important to our dad that everyone in the family and on the farm was doing well, and he worked tirelessly to achieve this,” says son Josef.
In almost 59 years of marriage, he never forgot a wedding anniversary and presented flowers to his great love, Maria, year after year.
The rosary devotion for Josef Kern will take place this Friday at 7 p.m. in the Church of St. Stephanus in Unterschvillach.
The Requiem followed by the funeral will be tomorrow Saturday at 10 a.m.