By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB
(Tampa – March 6) – Fr.
Michael Chubirko, SDB, went home to the Lord on Monday, March 5. A native of
Pennsylvania, Fr. Chubirko spent most of his religious life serving in
Byzantine Catholic churches in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Fr. Chubirko was born on November 10,
1923, to Olga Suson and Mike Chubirko. He was
baptized on November 21, 1923, at St. Mary’s Greek Catholic Church in
Bradenville, Pa. In 1948, he began his Salesian life at Don Bosco College in
Newton, N.J. After the completion of the novitiate year, he made his first
profession on September 8, 1950. He studied theology in Rome and was ordained
on March 25, 1960.
Fr. Chubirko was a math teacher,
catechist, treasurer, and spiritual guide for young people at Don Bosco Tech in
Paterson, N.J., Salesian High School in New Rochelle, N.Y., Salesian Junior
Seminary in Goshen, N.Y., and Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. His longest
assignment was at Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Elizabeth, N.J.,
from 1981 to 1994.
Fr. Chubirko came to Tampa to live at
St. Philip Residence at Mary Help of Christians Center in 2009. He was a
confessor for retreatants and a strong advocate for Cristo Rey Tampa High
School at Mary Help.
Funeral services were held at Mary Help
of Christians Parish in Tampa on March 8-9.
Additional rites will be celebrated at
the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y. (174 Filors Lane, Stony Point) on
Tuesday, March 13:
Reception of the body 2:00
p.m.
Rosary 4:30
p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial 7:00
p.m.
Fr.
Frank Twardzik, SDB, will preach at the Mass. The Most Rev. Kurt Burnette, eparch of
Passaic, will carry out the priestly anointing and veiling of the Byzantine
Rite.
Fr.
Chubirko will be buried in the Salesian Cemetery in Goshen, N.Y., on Wednesday
at 10:00 a.m.
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