Fr. Tomasz Grzegorzewski, SDB (1958-2022)

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

Fr. Tomasz Grzegorzewski, SDB, parochial vicar at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, NY, died suddenly on the afternoon of Thursday, October 13. He collapsed while taking a walk; passersby called for medical assistance and he was taken to Greenwich Hospital, but he couldn’t be revived.

Fr. Tomasz was a temporary transfer from the Salesian province of Krakow, Poland. He has been part of the Port Chester Salesian community for nearly five 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 eight 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.