Retired Vincentian Pastor, Former Parochial Vicar for St. Stanislaus Kostka
Father Stanislaw Staniszewski, C.M., a retired Vincentian Pastor, died on Mar. 27 while in Florida’s vacation residence. He was 83.
He was born on Oct. 26, 1937, in Abramy, Piski Parish, Diocese of £omża. After completing elementary school in 1952, he entered the Salesian Minor Seminary in Rozanystok, and when it was closed by Communist authorities in 1954, he completed the studies in Warsaw. He joined the Vincentian Fathers community on Oct. 7, 1956, pronounced his vows on Jun. 28, 1962, and was ordained on Jun. 23, 1963, by Bishop Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II.
Before coming to the United States, he was a parochial vicar in Odporyszow, Diocese of Tarnów (1963-64); in Trzciel, Diocese of Gorzow (1964-65); and Grodkow, Diocese of Opole (1965-69).
On Nov. 24, 1969, Father Stanisław arrived in the U.S. and studied English at St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont. From Dec. 29, 1970, until Sept. 1972, he worked at St. Michael’s Parish, Derby, Connecticut. He followed this with a course in English at Georgetown University, Wash., D.C.
From Feb. 15, 1973, until 1976, he was a parochial vicar for St. Stanislaus Kostka, Brooklyn; a teacher at St. John Kanty Prep, Erie, Penn. (1976-77); and a member of the mission group at Whitestone, N.Y. (1977-78);
He returned to St. Michael’s at Derby, Connecticut (1978-82); and became superior of the Mission House in Utica, New York (1982-88). In 1987, he took a course at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
He was the Superior of the Mission in Brooklyn (1988-91). On Aug. 1988, he was appointed pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Greenpoint, by Bishop Francis Mugavero.
“It is with regret and sadness that we would like to inform you that Fr. Stanisław Staniszewski, who was the pastor of our parish in the years 1988-1992 and the vicar in the years 2008-2009,” the parish published in their bulletin in polish. “May he rest in peace!”
Father Staniszewski retired in 2013 — the year he celebrated his Golden Jubilee.
His funeral Mass was on Apr. 6 at St. Michael’s Church, Derby, followed by burial at St. Michael Cemetery in Derby, CT.
Sister Maureen McDermott, CSJ, formerly known as Sister Saint Hugh McDermott, a Sister of St. Joseph of Brentwood for 73 years, died on Jan. 27.
She grew up in the Parish of St. Teresa, East Flatbush, attended Bishop McDonnell High School, and entered the congregation from her home parish on Feb. 4, 1948.
Sister Maureen earned her BA in Education in 1959 and her MA in English in 1963 from St. John’s University, Jamaica. Her background also included Educational Leadership courses at Manhattan College and St. John’s University in 1965 and 1969, as well as Contemporary Religious Leadership courses at St. Michael’s Monastery in 1978.
Her ministries included: St. Agnes Seminary, Flatbush/Madison Gardens (1950-54), St. Ambrose, Bedford-Stuyvesant (1954-63), St. Frances de Chantal, Wantagh (1963-64), Bishop McDonnell HS (1964-65), St. Augustine, Park Slope (1965-71), Immaculate Conception, East Williamsburg (1971-75), Resurrection School, Marine Park (1986-94), Bishop Kearney HS, Mapleton (1994-2010).
She performed Congregational ministries as Regional Superior and member of Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph (1975-86).
Sister Maureen lived the charism of the congregation and shared God’s love in her ministry of education.
Her wake and Mass of Christian burial took place in The Joan de Lourdes Room, Brentwood, on Feb. 2, followed by her interment in Calvary Cemetery.
