Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Fr. Kowalski, 91, loved the Church and her people
Fr. Kowalski, 91, loved the Church and her people
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 9, 2009
Detroit — Those who knew Fr. Ralph Kowalski remember him as an intelligent, good-natured priest with an ardent love for the people of the Church.
"He was very dedicated to the Church and the Archdiocese of Detroit, to the people of Detroit, and to the IHM sisters with whom he worked for many years at Marygrove College," said his friend Fr. Edward Scheuerman. "He was a dedicated teacher, a good homilist and a very learned man."
Fr. Kowalski died Tuesday morning while on vacation in Florida. He was 91 years old and had been a priest for 66 years.
Fr. Kowalski took on a vast array of assignments during his priesthood. He was a professor, pastor, vicar, tribunal judge, director of the archdiocesan Office of Education, moderator for transitional deacons, a member of the priests senate and presbyteral council, and an editorial writer for The Michigan Catholic.
Those who knew him through his ministry pointed to Fr. Kowalski's enthusiasm for the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. Fr. Victor Clore, pastor of Christ the King Parish in Detroit who for one of his first assignments had been Fr. Kowalski's associate pastor at St. Francis de Sales Parish, said Fr. Kowalski was always involved in and educated on the life of the Church.
"He was a blessing to the people around him," said Fr. Clore. "I was really privileged to work with him as a young priest. I always enjoyed his friendship and just his sense of the Church being central to people's lives — and he did what he could to make that happen."
Fr. Clore recalled Fr. Kowalski making St. Francis de Sales "one of the very first parishes to have a parish council," because that's what Vatican II had recommended. He also remembered being with Fr. Kowalski during the riots in Detroit in 1967, taking emergency clothing, food and supplies to areas of the city that were under duress. "Fr. Kowalski's attitude was that the Church had to be witness to the Gospel and do what was necessary on a day-to-day basis," Fr. Clore said.
Fr. Michael Kazer, pastor of St. Edith Parish in Livonia, met Fr. Kowalski when the latter oversaw transitional deacon assignments from 1978 until 1981.
"I could describe him as well read, well spoken and outspoken," Fr. Kazer said. "He fully embraced the changes of the Second Vatican Council, and as a priest of the 'old school' was very much a priest of the new Church."
Fr. Kazer also noted that, as Fr. Kowalski had lived at Senior Clergy Village, on the Felician Campus, across the street from St. Edith, he'd been a neighbor "who always maintained a pleasant attitude."
Fr. Kowalski was born on March 23, 1917, in Detroit. He attended Sacred Heart Seminary high school and college, Detroit; the Gregorian University through the North American College in Rome; and the Catholic University of America. He later returned to Rome to earn a doctorate through the Angelicum.
He was ordained May 30, 1942.
After a brief assignment as an assistant pastor at St. Alphonsus Parish, Dearborn, in 1942, Fr. Kowalski served as an assistant pastor at St. Catherine Parish, Detroit (1942-47), Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit (1947-50), and at Santa Maria del Lago in Rome during his studies at the Angelicum (1950-52).
He was a philosophy professor at Marygrove College, Detroit (1952-66), and then pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish (1966-72).
Fr. Kowalski was pastor of St. Bede Parish, Southfield (1972-79) and of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Grosse Pointe Woods, from 1981 until attaining senior priest status in 1987.
He was chairman of the Liturgical Commission for Synod 1969, director of Continuing Education of Priests (1971-79), moderator for transitional deacons (1978-81), and director of the archdiocesan Office of Education (1979-81). He was vicar of the local vicariate during his tenures at both St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Fr. Scheuerman, who was traveling with Fr. Kowalski at the time of his death, said Fr. Kowalski loved to travel, to golf and to cook.
"He was very outgoing, very friendly and very affable," Fr. Scheuerman said of Fr. Kowalski.
Funeral arrangements had not been finalized as of this printing of The Michigan Catholic. For arrangements, contact the Fred Wood Funeral Home in Livonia at (734) 464-8060 or info@fredwoodfuneralhome.com.
Related Link:
|
