Fr. Augustine Baek, SDB (1958-2022)
Fr. Augustine Woon Taek Baek, SDB, died at 2:10 p.m. on December 30 at home, the Salesian Provincial Center, in New Rochelle. He was 64 years old and had been a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for 35 years and a priest for 27 years.
Widely known as Fr. Gus, he was diagnosed
with stomach cancer in 2020. The cancer spread in spite of treatment, including
several hospitalizations and several forms of chemotherapy. After another
Anointing of the Sick by Fr. Provincial on December 26, surrounded by the
confreres of the community, arrangements were being made for him to begin hospice
care.
Fr. Gus was very much beloved in the Korean
community of the New York metro area, whom he had faithfully served for most of
his priestly life, and they attended him tenderly in his last months—as did his
Salesian confreres.
Woon Taek Baek was born in Kwangju, South
Korea, on September 19, 1958. His parents were Nam-Sik Baek and Kwi-Ja Lee. The
family was prosperous as owners of a factory that made coal briquettes at a
time when every Korean household used them for cooking and heating. The family
included two sons and four daughters. Woon Taek became a Christian as a
teenager, baptized with the name Augustine on May 29, 1971, in Kwangju.
According to Fr. Henry Bonetti, American
Salesian missionary serving in Kwangju, during high school Gus was head of the Catholic
students’ movement in his school. “This movement was divided into cells, one
cell in each school of the city,” Fr. Henry writes. “Also, each parish alone
was one cell. There were about 15 parishes and about 30 high school cells. The
cells came together and were formed into a Catholic Student’s Union. This was
done both on high school and university level. All spiritual as well as social
events were run through these ‘unions.’ I guess you could call it something
like CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) only much stronger in Korea than the
USA. I [Fr. Henry] was in charge of all the middle school, high school and
university students in the Diocese of Kwangju at the time (1975-1990). Sometime
in the late seventies, Gus was elected head of the High School Student’s
Association by his peers. This is no small feat as the organization was very
large and well-organized. He distinguished himself during his term of office as
a good leader and organizer even from his early days. Even then he had the same
character that characterized him as a Salesian, solid in the faith, a good
leader and organizer, friendly, not easily provoked to anger, even-tempered,
thoughtful, considerate and respectful.”
The influence of Fr. Henry was the seed of Gus’s Salesian vocation. After high school he completed mandatory military training, then emigrated to the U.S., as did most of his family. From there he wrote to Fr. Henry asking advice on what to do as he wanted to become a priest. Fr. Henry referred him to the Salesians’ vocation director. That was enough for Fr. Gus always to consider Fr. Henry as the source of his Salesian vocation and his vocational “father,” although he had many spiritual directors and “fathers” after that.
On August 29, 1984, he entered the Son of
Mary program at Don Bosco College Seminary in Newton, N.J., where he was guided
in two years of vocational discernment by Fr. Tom Ruekert. He was admitted to
St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton on August 24, 1986, and a year later made his
first profession as a Salesian (August 25, 1987). The novitiate year began with
11 novices directed by Fr. John Grinsell in his first year as master. Fr. Gus
is the only one of the 11 who remained a Salesian. He completed a Bachelor’s
degree in philosophy from Don Bosco College in May 1989.
Bro. Gus did two years of practical
training (1989-1991), one as a teacher at Archbishop Shaw High School in
Marrero, La., and one as a teacher and Boys Club staff member at St. Dominic
Savio High School in East Boston. Theological studies followed at the
Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio (1991-1995), where he earned
an M.A. cum laude in biblical studies. He made his perpetual profession on
August 21, 1993, at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y., and was
ordained in Columbus, Ohio, on May 28, 1995.
Fr. Gus became an American citizen in 1988.
Fr. Gus’s first priestly assignment was to
the Salesian Boys & Girls Club in East Boston as assistant executive
director (1995-1997). He was sent next to Corpus Christi Parish in Port
Chester, N.Y. (1997-1999) as assistant pastor and youth minister. Then came
five years in the formation community at Orange, N.J. (1999-2004), which
included a year as youth minister at St. Andrew Kim Parish in Maplewood, N.J., two
years as the Salesian community’s treasurer and two as youth minister at Our
Lady of the Valley Church in Orange, and four years as an adjunct professor of
theology at Caldwell College (Caldwell, N.J.).
In 2004 Fr. Gus founded the Reborn Young Christ (RYC) Center for Korean youth ministry in Stony Point, N.Y., which he coordinated for 15 years. During that period he traveled extensively in service to Korean-American youths, helped bring Salesians from Korea to minister to youths in both the New York area and the Tampa Bay area. His director for five of those 15 years, Fr. John Puntino, writes: “[Fr.] Gus was always so gracious and conscientious regarding community and Shrine affairs. I observed how revered he was in the Korean community and how pastoral he was especially in caring for young adults.”
In 2019 the Salesians called upon Fr. Gus
to assume leadership at Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, succeeding Fr. Mark
Hyde. He began with energy, making several overseas trips as required by the
job. The Covid pandemic slowed that down, and then came his diagnosis with
stomach cancer. He carried on as best he could, even traveling in the New York
area to make mission appeals as late as August 2022.
Fr. Gus’s executive secretary Joann Oliva said: “I could only add that he was a pleasure to work for and with and to be around, always had a smile on his face. He loved the mission office, and he did so much for all the missionaries. He will truly be missed.”
The Salesians’ representative at the United Nations, Fr. Thomas
Pallithanam, who had left for a family visit in India only on December 27, mourned
his friend’s sudden loss: “Though it was
not unexpected, I had hoped that when I came back I would still be able to see
him and tell him that he had been such a dear friend. Before I left for India I
could step into his room, whisper a few words of comfort to him, and say
goodbye. But I had also hoped that it would not be the last goodbye. He
was so very supportive of my work at the UN. And I knew I could rely on his
advice and strength. From him, I always had a willing and patient ear.
Above all, he was a friend, kind and gentle. I take comfort in the thought that
from where he is now he will continue to be the friend and support he was in
the short period of three years I was associated with him.”
During his two years facing his illness,
Fr. Gus sometimes got discouraged but at other times was upbeat and hopeful. He
acknowledged his pain and the difficulty of having fluid build-up drained from
his abdomen, but he didn’t really complain. He was always ready for whatever
God was asking of him.
In addition to his Salesian brothers and
sisters, Fr. Gus is survived by his sisters Monica Cho of Fairfax, Va.; Soon Ja
Baek (Maria) of Seoul, South Korea; and Hyung Hee Baek (Justina) of Seoul; and
his brother Hyung Jo Baek (Francis) of Seoul. Another sister, Julia, died recently
in Korea.
Funeral
arrangements are being handled by John J. Fox Funeral Home of Larchmont,
N.Y.
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