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Riko’ Ziernfeld says his voice gets better with age
Henrik Ziernfeld (fourth from left, front row) has served in the Our Lady Help of Christians choir for nearly 72 years. The new centenarian was honoured with a birthday party after the June 28 Mass from his fellow Slovenian-Canadian Catholics.
Photo courtesy Marta Desmar
July 11, 2026
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Henrik “Riko” Ziernfeld, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, has always had music in him.
The Slovenian, born in Croatia on June 30, 1926, first joined a parish choir at age 14, over 85 years ago, and has never ceased extolling God in song.
For nearly 72 of those years, since December 1954, Ziernfeld has been found each Sunday singing alongside his friends during the 10 a.m. Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians, a Slovenian parish on Manning Avenue in downtown Toronto.
Remarkably, the centenarian told The Catholic Register that he might be in his wholehearted and impactful vocal prime right now.
“It seems to me now that my singing has improved,” said the tenor. “Especially over the past couple of years. Maybe it’s because I read a book about the Rosary.”
He is now an ardent reader of The Secret Of The Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort. The French priest and Catholic Mariologist, who passed away in 1716, wrote a book that celebrated the Rosary’s enduring power, shared two methods of praying this devotion and presented a myriad of viewpoints on this set of prayers.
“That was the first time really that I was interested in the Rosary,” said Ziernfeld. “Before I prayed it occasionally, but I never understood the advantage. After I started, I thought I should pray it every day.
He pulls out his beads twice a day: once early in the morning — most often at 2 a.m. — and then in the afternoon or before he goes to bed.
Marta Desmar, a fellow choir member and a frequent visitor in Ziernfeld’s home, speaks glowingly about her longtime friend’s effervescent nature.
“I'm incredibly blessed to know Riko because he is optimistic,” said Desmar. “What I really enjoy is whenever I come to visit him, if I don't get an answer at the front door, I go to the back window and knock on his kitchen window, and the biggest smile comes to his face when he sees me. He does the same for everybody that he sees. He has a wonderful smile.”
And Ziernfeld really enjoys a good hug. It brought Desmar joy when he trusted her enough to request a hug.
“It's a wonderful feeling to hug somebody who has lived so long, has so much to give, who has so much courage and has a high standard that it makes me reflect on my life and how I can become better,” said Desmar.
Ziernfeld particularly inspired his friend by the way he served for over 15 years as the primary caregiver for his wife of 62 years, Frances, who passed away on Jan. 2, 2023. Frances — blessed with her own affectionate nickname “Francka” — also sang in the Our Lady Help of Christians choir for many years, and it was she who came down to the pews one Sunday and encouraged Desmar to join the “choir family.”
Ziernfeld developed the vigour to serve his parish and maintain his home independently, still at 100 years old, with an impressive physical fitness regimen. Up until he was 98 years old, the Slovenian-Canadian said he could complete 120 push-ups at a time three or four times a week, and he’d add some sit-ups to the routine for good measure.
Ziernfeld’s inspiring longevity and years of choral devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians were honoured on June 28. He received a blessing from Fr. Leopold Valant during Mass and he and his friends shared cake, coffee, Slovenian Krofi donuts and other treats. The group also crooned birthday tunes popular in the Slovenian culture.
Nearly three years before his 100th birthday, Ziernfeld was afforded another occasion to reflect on the entire arc of his life’s journey. He and fellow European immigrant Matija Sedej garnered attention on May 19, 2023, by returning to Pier 21 in Halifax for the first time in 75 years. Back in 1948, Ziernfeld and Sedej were both passengers on the SS Marine Jumper, a vessel that carried many seeking to flee war-torn Europe. Because of the uncertainty at the end of the Second World War, Ziernfeld fled with over 10,000 refugees into Austria and remained in refugee camps there for three years before arriving in Bremerhaven, Germany, May 9, 1948, to begin a voyage toward a new life in Canada.
Desmar arranged the return trip to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Her late father Frank was on SS Marine Jumper, and he passed away when she was a teenager.
Ziernfeld first ventured westward to Saskatchewan to change train rails for the Canadian Pacific Railway. And then he ventured to Northern Ontario to serve as a cutting machine operator at a paper mill. From there it was on to Toronto in 1949 and work in construction and tractor manufacturing for a time before embarking on a 50-year career as an electrical engineer.
Meanwhile, he was an important part of the Slovenian community in Toronto that established Our Lady Help of Christians in late 1954 and has remained a key pillar for nearly 72 years.
He intends to sing in the choir as long as possible because it makes him happy and enriches his faith.
“Here I feel closer to God,” said Ziernfeld. “I understand everything in different ways.”
He always feels tight-knit with the Almighty by continually humming tunes praising Him throughout the day.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the July 12, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "At 100, the song is far from over".
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