Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
April 24, 2002
`Whatever happened to Father X ?'
Nebraska son, Father David Sobieszczyk, tends to sick and elderly
By Lorenzo Chavez
I haven't had much luck with the soil here," says Father David Sobieszczyk, staring out at his grassy backyard in Littleton. Nonetheless, several bright red tulips have blossomed in a spot next to a mature evergreen spruce tree that towers 50 feet into the sky.
Gardening has remained a lifelong pastime for Father Sobieszczyk, the son of Nebraska farmers who tended to his mother's garden as a youngster. As one of 13 children, he learned early to share and help around the farm with family chores.
His 38 years in the priesthood span three decades that saw dramatic changes in the nation and the Church. Father Sobieszczyk was ordained a priest in the midst of the 1960s civil rights movement and served in various Denver parishes throughout the Me Decade 1970s and Decade of Greed 1980s.
He was born and raised in Loup City, Neb., — the "Polish capital of Nebraska." The family moved to Denver in 1949 where he attended Englewood High School before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1957.
While stationed in Germany he became the weatherman for the local base where the base chaplain suggested he consider the priesthood. He soon left the military and moved to Chicago to help his oldest sister who had become ill and needed help in caring for her eight children. Meanwhile, he also took classes in Latin in preparation for entry into the seminary. He was ordained in 1965.
One of his first assignments was to serve at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Denver. Because it was so close, he would stop by and visit patients at St. Anthony's Hospital near Sloan's Lake.
In 1974, Archbishop James Casey ordered that a new parish be built in northern Arvada. The archbishop later tapped Father Sobieszczyk to succeed Father John Martens to become Spirit of Christ's second pastor. The congregation originated through the devotion of various grassroots efforts and strong support from other nearby parishes. At that time the church had 750 parishioners. But within five years, the congregation had easily surpassed 1,000 members. Several years later, Archbishop (now Cardinal) J. Francis Stafford dedicated a $1 million addition and renovation for a congregation of more than 3,000.
In the 1980s Father Sobieszczyk became pastor at St. James Church in east Denver. While at St. James and at Mother of God parishes, he fed his gardening passion by developing small flower beds around the parking lot and grounds.
In 1987, while visiting his sister in Northridge, Calif., he suffered a heart attack after playing racquetball. The excruciating pain led to some forgivable cursing at the time and after "I said a few Hail Mary's" he was rushed to the emergency room. After surgery, he celebrated his 50th birthday in the hospital but was gratified when the nursing staff brought him a cake and sang to him that day.
"It took about a year to recover," he says. He recalls reading a birthday card listing historical events coinciding with the date of his Jan. 25 birth date. After discovering St. Paul's conversion that day and other key events, he realized again that "there must be something God has in store for me."
These days he has been celebrating Mass at Church of the Risen Christ in Denver. Father Sobieszczyk also enjoys celebrating Mass at his home and visiting family members including brothers and sisters now living in Fort Collins, Chicago, Arizona, California and Nebraska. To relax, he listens to modern jazz and finds comfort with a relatively new release titled "Loved Ones," an album featuring the father and son team of Ellis and Brandon Marsalis of New Orleans.
Today, the retired 69-year-old priest visits nursing homes to anoint the sick and travels to Breckenridge to celebrate Mass.
"Some priests are in their 80s and they're not going to quit," he says. "There are so many things going on in the archdiocese."
Send correspondence to Father Sobieszczyk at 7074 S. Clermont Drive, Littleton, CO 80122.
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