Joseph Henry Cappel Farfsing
Joseph Henry Cappel Farfsing (Covington, November 16, 1908 - Curepto, May 31, 2004), better known as the Reverend Father José Cappel, was a missionary and Catholic priest based in Chile recognized by the community of Curepto for his missionary work. which he did for 55 years on a bicycle.
Bishop James Anthony Walsh presided over his first missionary assignment on June 16, 1935, for which he arrived in Chile to settle in the commune of Curepto.
Joseph Henry Cappel was born in Covington, Kentucky, on November 16, 1908, son of Joseph and Eleanora Farfsing Cappel. He had six brothers, one of whom was also a Maryknoll priest, Father Charles Cappel. He attended St. Matthew Elementary School in Norwood and graduated from St. Mary High School in Cincinnati in 1927.
He attended the University of Dayton in Ohio for two years before beginning studies to be a Cincinnati diocesan priest at St. Gregory Seminary. But he met Maryknoll missionaries, who lived in a Maryknoll house near the seminary, and was drawn to foreign missions. He entered Maryknoll Seminary in September 1931 and met Maryknoll co-founder Bishop James Anthony Walsh, who presided over his ordination on June 16, 1935.
