Father Joseph A. Cestaro, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, died on Jan. 20 at his private residence. He was 83.

His funeral Mass was celebrated at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Sunset Park, on Jan. 30. Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski was the celebrant and homilist.

Burial was at Greenwood Cemetery.

Father Cestaro was a parochial vicar at St. Luke, Whitestone; St. Edmund, Homecrest; Holy Family, Canarsie; Holy Name of Jesus, Windsor Terrace; Ss. Simon & Jude, Gravesend; and St. Josaphat, Bayside.

“He was a good priest,” Msgr. John Tosi, pastor of St. Luke, where Father Cestaro had his last parish assignment, said. “He served the people faithfully.”

Born in Elmont, L.I., Father Cestaro studied for the priesthood at Crozier House of Studies in Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Ss. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich. He was ordained by Bishop Bryan McEntegart at St. James Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn, in 1962.