Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / Fr. Szarek was 'very dedicated as a priest'
Fr. Szarek was 'very dedicated as a priest'
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 16, 2010
DETROIT — Fr. Mitchell Szarek died on Divine Mercy Sunday, with a smile on his face, after spending the day doing what he loved with the people he loved, said a fellow priest.
Fr. Szarek died April 11. He was 81.
Fr. Stan Tokarski, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul (Westside) Parish, where Fr. Szarek lived after his retirement in 2000, said Fr. Szarek was "more than just an average priest." "He was small of stature, but big of heart," he said. "He was very dedicated as a priest to the Church, to his people, to his (Polish) heritage."
Fr. Tokarski said Fr. Szarek didn't talk much about his personal life or his own history, instead preferring to talk about the parish, parishioners and events he'd attended or was going to attend. In fact, Fr. Tokarski didn't realize how spiritual Fr. Szarek was until after his death, when he was going through some old papers and journals.
"On the surface, he seemed like a simple and unassuming person," Fr. Tokarski said. "He was very deeply involved in his spirituality."
Fr. Tokarski said Fr. Szarek was faithful and obedient to the Church, and that he would remember him as a St. John Vianney-type of priest: simple yet touching the lives of a lot of people. Fr. Szarek was always positive, Fr. Tokarski remembered, and always on the go — "He loved his parties, his entertainment, his music," he said — even playing the accordion at parish events, until he could no longer hear the music.
He presided at many funerals and would always attend the funeral lunch, making quick friends with people he had never met before. "This is the way he would minister to the people," Fr. Tokarski said. "He was always extending himself to the people that way. Everybody absolutely loved him."
Since Fr. Szarek helped out at the parish even in his retirement, he celebrated 9 a.m. Mass the day he died, and said a kind of farewell to the people there, Fr. Tokarski said. He then went to an Easter breakfast with other Poles for a few hours, and came back to the rectory, sharing how much he'd enjoyed himself. Not a few minutes later he had collapsed, and died with a smile on his face, surrounded by his friends at the rectory.
"He spent the last day of his life with people with he loved and cherished, and doing what he loved and cherished," Fr. Tokarski said. "The last thing I saw on his face was a smile. It's an incredible end to his life story."
Fr. Szarek was born to John and Agnes Boduch in Poland Dec. 20, 1928, in the village of Wola Zelichowska, Parish Greboszów, Province of Tarnów. He was baptized Dec. 26, 1928, with the name Mieczyslaw Stephen. He grew up with his four brothers and two sisters in a traditional Catholic family.
Fr. Szarek's childhood and early youth education were disrupted by World War II, and when the war ended in 1944 he continued his education. He entered the Diocesan Seminary of Tarnów, where he was ordained by Bishop Karol Pekala on June 23, 1957. After ordination, Fr. Szarek served the people in Ochotnica, Dolna, Laczki Kucharskie and Zalosowa.
He came to the United States in 1974 and served in residence at Our Lady Queen of Angels, Detroit; St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Wyandotte, and St. Bartholomew Parish, Detroit. He then served as associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish, Wyandotte (1978-80); St. Pius X Parish, Southgate (1980); St. Linus Parish, Dearborn Heights (1980); and St. Mary Parish, Wayne (1980-82).
He then served as associate pastor at St. Athanasius Parish, Roseville (1982-83); SS. Peter and Paul Parish (Westside), Detroit (1983-86); and St. Raymond Parish, Detroit (1986-89); he also served as chaplain at Holy Cross Hospital. He was then appointed pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish (1989-94) and then of St. Cunegunda Parish (1994-2000), from which he retired in 2000.
Fr. Szarek was incardinated into the archdiocese by Cardinal Edmund Szoka in 1982, later that year becoming an American citizen.
Visitation was to be held at SS. Peter and Paul Parish, 7685 Grandville, Detroit, 1-9 p.m. Thursday, with the wake service at 7 p.m. His body will lie in state at 10 a.m. Friday, with the funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Archbishop Allen Vigneron was to be the celebrant.
|
