Funeral services will be held May 14 in Our Lady of the Angels Parish-St. Joachim Church, Trenton, for Father Harry E. Cenefeldt who died May 9 at age 85.

Rite of Reception of the Body will be at 10:45 a.m. with viewing following from 11 a.m. to noon. At 12:15 p.m., Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will be principal celebrant of a Mass of Christian Burial.

Born Nov. 14, 1927, in Manitowoc, Wis., Father Cenefeldt was the only child of Harry and Blanche Albrecht Cenefeldt. He was the third member of his family to pursue a vocation to religious life. His uncle, Father Francis Xavier Steinbrecher, was a priest of the Green Bay Diocese, and his great aunt, Sister M. Clarissa, was a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Manitowoc, Wis.

He attended Marquette University, Milwaukee, before electing to join the Norbertine Fathers at St. Norbert College and Abbey, West de Pere, Wis., where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, in 1952. He was ordained to the priesthood Sept. 1, 1954, in St.  Joseph Church, West de Pere, by Green Bay Auxiliary Bishop John B. Grellinger.

Following his ordination, Father Cenefeldt joined the faculty of St. Norbert High School, West de Pere, where he served for three years from 1952-1955. In 1956, he moved to Philadelphia, where he taught in Bishop Neumann High School for the next seven years from 1955-1963. In the summers, he returned to Wisconsin to serve as a weekend assistant in St. Willoibrord Parish, Green Bay. In 1961, Father Cenefeldt began devoting his summers and weekends to continuing his studies in Seton Hall University, South Orange, and Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. He received a master’s degree in history from Seton Hall in 1964 while also serving as parochial vicar in St. Norbert Parish, Paoli, Pa.

Father Cenefeldt arrived to New Jersey full time when he was assigned to St. Ambrose Parish, Old Bridge, Dec. 1, 1966. He was incardinated as a priest for the Diocese of Trenton by Bishop George W. Ahr Jan. 13, 1971, and on Sept. 24, 1971, was named parochial vicar of St. Rose Parish, Belmar. After five years, Father Cenefeldt was named temporary administrator of Ascension Parish, Bradley Beach, where he served from November, 1977 to June, 1978. He briefly returned to St. Rose Parish before being named pastor of St. Ann Parish, Browns Mills, on Dec. 15, 1978.

From May, 1981 to June, 1986, he was pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Tuckerton (now Little Egg Harbor). During his tenure, he purchased additional lots and a large house across the street from the church. He sold and had removed the old rectory, enlarged the house across the street as a new rectory and enlarged the church to double its original capacity. In 1986 he resigned as pastor because of illness.

Father Cenefeldt went on to serve as parochial vicar of St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville; St. Dominic Parish, Brick; St. Mark Parish, Sea Girt, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Trenton. On Feb. 21, 1997, he was appointed spiritual director for the Mercer County Holy Name Society, a position he maintained until his retirement in 2000. On April 18, 1999, Bishop John M. Smith awarded Father Cenefeldt the Holy Name Silver Circle Medallion in recognition of his activities in the Holy Name Federation and in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish. For a year, Father Cenefeldt was Catholic chaplain at the Jones Prison Farm, and for five years was chaplain in Genesis-Ewing Nursing Home.

Along with Msgr. William Fitzgerald, he assisted in the writing and publishing of a history of Our Lady of Good Counsel in commemoration of the parish’s 50th anniversary. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name Society and the Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein of Philadelphia.

Father Cenefeldt retired in 2000 and lived in Villa Vianney, the diocesan residence for retired priests. In retirement, he served as a weekend assistant in Our Lady of the Angels Parish.