Fr. Tomasz Grzegorzewski, SDB (1958-2022)
Fr. Tomasz Grzegorzewski, SDB, parochial vicar at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, N.Y., died suddenly on the afternoon of October 13. He collapsed while taking a walk; passersby called for medical assistance and he was taken to Greenwich (Conn.) Hospital, but he couldn’t be revived.
Fr. Tomasz was on
loan from the Salesian province of Krakow, Poland. He had been part of the Port
Chester Salesian community for nearly 5 years, ministering to Polish people in
the area as well as to other parishioners. He had just returned from a vacation
in Poland last week. Although he had some health problems, no one imagined that
they would strike him down so suddenly.
Fr. Tomasz was 64
years old, a professed Salesian for 44 years, and a priest for 37 years.
Fr. Tomasz was the youngest
child of Marian and Janina Bednarska Grzegorzewski and was born on March 5,
1958, in Kielce, Poland. He was baptized in the cathedral church of that city
on May 10 of the same year. His father died in a train accident when Tomasz was
nine.
Tomasz attended
primary and secondary schools in Kielce and entered the Salesian prenovitiate
at Kopiec, Poland, on January 8, 1977. On August 16, 1978, he made his first
profession as a Salesian, a member of the Krakow Province.
Fr. Tomasz undertook
philosophy and theology studies in Krakow and was ordained in Krakow on June
19, 1985, by Auxiliary Bishop Albin Malysiak of Krakow. He earned a master’s
degree in theology from the Catholic University of Lublin.
Following his
ordination, Fr. Tomasz served as an assistant pastor in Krakow and Przemysl for
two years. Then he undertook missionary work in Africa, serving in Kenya,
Uganda, Namibia, and South Africa for a total of 17 years between 1987 and
2005, with a sabbatical year at the Institute of Salesian Studies in Berkeley,
Calif., in 1996-1997. He worked as both a parish priest and a project
administrator.
In 2007 Fr. Tomasz
moved for a year to Christchurch, New Zealand, as an assistant pastor, which
was followed by 8 years in Ireland (2008-2016) as a parish priest in Dublin and
Aughrim. He took another sabbatical year in 2016-2017, split between Chicago
and Sydney (Australia). In 2017 he arrived in Port Chester for what turned out
to be his final priestly assignment.
Fr. Pat Angelucci,
pastor of St. John Bosco Parish and director of the Salesian community, writes:
“What is most important is his love for the
missions – his concern and interest in the Salesian Lay Missioners when they
came each year [for their orientation] – and how he would pray for them. He
desired to be in places where there was really a need for a priest to help
others. He had a special gift for celebrating funerals and constantly prayed
for those whom he buried; he would visit the cemetery to remember them. Each
week he would go to visit the kids in our Polish school; they loved him because
he was always friendly and kind and took time to talk with them. He had great
pastoral care for the Polish community, visiting the sick and reaching out in
every way. He was gentle and loving.”
Fr. Tomasz was
predeceased by both of his parents and his brother. His two sisters survive
him; the younger, Joanna
Grzegorsewska, lives in Poland, while the elder, also in Poland, is in poor
health and wasn’t listed as a contact on his personal information form.
Funeral arrangements
everything at St. John Bosco Church, 260 Westchester Ave., Port Chester
Tuesday, October 18: reception of the body and wake, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 19: wake, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
closing of the casket, 7:15 p.m.
Mass of Christian Burial, 7:30 p.m.
Fr. Tomasz wished that his body be cremated and the cremains taken to Krakow for interment in the Salesian cemetery there.
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