26 January 1819 - 17 July 1888
Matthias Kentenich was the eldest son of the smallholder Heinrich Kendenich of Huerth-Kendenich, and his wife, Gertrud, nee Meuhl. Joseph Kentenich’s great-grandfather still wrote the family name with a “d”. From the time of his grandfather, that is, Matthias Kentenich, the name was written with a “t”.
Shortly after his marriage to Anna Maria Blatzheim, he bought the house on Kunibertusplatz in Gymnich. It had a barn and a small stable for one or two horses.
Matthias Kentenich changed his work a number of times. To start with he was a labourer, later he seems to have had a transport business between Cologne and Gymnich. On one of his journeys to Cologneto deliver vegetables to large private houses, he got to know the small child of a domestic servant. She was unmarried and was unable to care for the child sufficiently, and so the Kentenich family took the girl in as a foster child.
Joseph’s grandfather died on 14 July 1888 of “water on the lungs”, which could indicate anything from tuberculosis to cancer of the lungs.