Home | Back

Randolph: Rev. Wieczorek, 70, honored ... St. Joseph School has birthday party for parish pastor

Share_print Print Story    |    Comments    |   

Laura Nethken
November 13, 2009

Students, faculty and staff of St. Joseph School in Randolph recently held a surprise 70th birthday party at the school in honor of the Rev. Ed Wieczorek, pastor of St. Joseph Parish.

The students made birthday cards and presented them to Wieczorek, and children from grades three and five sang songs. A birthday cake, made by eighth-grade teacher Jennifer Glendenning, was presented to him.

In addition to the surprise party given by the school children, St. Joseph parishioners held a party, organized by Joyce Landgraf, at the school's social hall.

The church choir, under the direction of Steve Francis, sang a specially written birthday song for "Father Ed" following the 8:30 a.m. Mass.

Several members of the choir then sang again to Wieczorek at his reception along with the guests in attendance singing the traditional "Happy Birthday" song.

The cakes were made by parishioner Mary Rodenbucher with a "Good Shepherd" theme to honor the pastor and "shepherd" of St. Joseph Parish.

Parishioners joined in a potluck reception along with Wieczorek's relatives.

Clergy from the Diocese of Youngstown and more than 150 parishioners and friends greeted Wieczorek and shared many stories and memories.

Rev. Wieczorek was ordained Dec. 18, 1965, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy. Returning to the Diocese of Youngstown, he served as associate pastor at St. Columba Cathedral for three years. In 1969, he returned to the Gregorian Institute for graduate studies in theology.

He joined the faculty of Mount St. Mary's of the West Seminary in Cincinnati in 1971 for four years. He then served as associate pastor at St. Joseph in Canton from 1975 to 1979 prior to becoming the first pastor of Uniontown Holy Spirit, where he served from 1979 to 1991, the year in which he was named pastor of Columbiana St. Jude.

He became pastor of St. Joseph Parish in 1995.

He also served in Synod '76 Social Justice and Responsibility Committee and was an elect representative to the Priests' Senate. He coordinated a prayer group for priests and was active in the Charismatic Movement in Stark County.

While at St. Columba, he served as Mahoning County chaplain to the Boy Scouts. He served on the diocesan Board of Education from 1983 to 1986 and was president of the Lake Area Clergy Association in 1985. In 1996, he was the co-founder, along with the Rev. Charles McNatt of the United Methodist Church of Randolph, of the Southwest Portage County Ministerial Association, where he has held various offices including president.

 

(photo)

The Rev. Ed Wieczorek, left, of St. Joseph Church in Randolph is greeted at a reception by the Rev. Dan Cipar of Our Lady of Lourdes in East Palestine at a reception held in honor of Wieczorek’s 70th birthday.

 




Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed. Recordpub.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.

Login above or Register to comment.
 0 Total Comments Home | Back