July 14, 2010

Father ‘Mickey’ Flaska dies at 59

By John Gleason

Father Michael “Mickey” Flaska, a priest of the Denver Archdiocese for 13 years, died June 29 following a brief illness.  He was 59.

A native of Nashville, Tenn., Father Flaska was born May 18, 1951, to Celia and Julius Flaska.  He graduated from the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1973. Years later he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver and finished his formation at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. 

He was ordained by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., on May 31, 1997, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

Father Flaska was assigned to Notre Dame Parish in Denver as parochial vicar.  He served as administrator, and later pastor, at St. Anthony’s in Sterling, St. Catherine of Siena in Iliff and Sacred Heart in Peetz.  Other assignments included parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist in Longmont and as pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Wheat Ridge.  Father Flaska’s last assignment was as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Pines in Conifer with duties at Christ the King in Evergreen.
Christ the King pastor, Father Christopher Renner, said Father Flaska was a man who truly loved being a priest.

“The thing that always impressed me was how much he loved saying Mass and celebrating the sacraments,” Father Renner said.  “That’s where he was in his element. He embraced it and found great pleasure in it.

“The other thing he enjoyed,” he added, “was his ministry to the elderly.  He took great pleasure in traveling to the nursing homes, visiting with the residents and saying Mass for them.”

Father Flaska’s sister, Barbara Engle, said her brother never mentioned anything about becoming a priest while he was in college.  In fact, almost 20 years passed before he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver.  

“He earned a degree in business and went to work for John Deere after graduation,” she said.  “I was pleasantly surprised when he told me about his vocation to the priesthood and how it was something he’d been contemplating for a long time.  I know it was a decision he was very happy with.”

A funeral Mass for Father Flaska was held at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver on July 2.  Interment took place at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge.