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Happening ... in the Local Church
 Father
Charles Remaklus in the early 1980s |
By Caroline B. Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
HARTFORD CITY — Father Charles W. Remaklus, 88, retired priest of the Local Church, died Aug. 23 in Bridgewater Health Care Center after an extended illness.
Charles William Remaklus, son of the late Nicholas P. Remaklus and Elizabeth Schmit Remaklus, was born in Dunkirk on May 20, 1921.
He was ordained by Bishop John G. Bennett on May 31, 1947, at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette. He was the sole member of the diocese’s third ordination class.
“Father Remaklus goes back to almost the beginning of the diocese,” said Father Robert Moran, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, Portland, and homilist at the Aug. 26 funeral Mass. “He has seen most of our history to this point.
“He was ordained before the (Second Vatican) Council and served after the council,” Father Moran said. “He served during times of great transition in the life of the Church and what was expected of a parish priest. Through it all, he continued to do the best he could to be the best priest he could in the service of the parishes.
“During the last years of his life in the nursing home, when he could no longer function as a priest, he spent his time in prayer for the people and priests of the diocese,” Father Moran said.
Father Remaklus entered Sacred Heart Minor Seminary in Fort Wayne to pursue classical studies from 1939 to 1942. He went on to St. Meinrad Major Seminary in St. Meinrad, Ind., from 1942 to 1947, where he studied philosophy and sacred theology.
He offered his first Mass at his home parish of St. Mary, Dunkirk.
His first assignment was as assistant pastor at the cathedral in 1947. In 1948, he was named assistant pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Logansport. His first pastorate was at St. Ann Church, Kewanna, in 1952. He was named pastor of St. Anne Church in Monterey in 1954 and served as pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, Attica, from 1960 until 1970.
Several of Father Remaklus’ former parishioners shared their memories in 2007, on the 60th anniversary of his ordination.
“He kind of had a temper, but he was a good pastor,” said Alice Silver, a former St. Francis parishioner. “He didn’t put up with anything ... He just did his thing, that was Father Remaklus.”
Hubert and Wilma Shackleton are longtime parishioners of the Attica church. They remember Father Remaklus as an often-gruff priest who smoked big cigars.
“I do know that when he was in a meeting with people, he had a softer touch than he did sometimes in church,” Wilma Shackleton said.
“When you got into a church council group, a parish meal, or a funeral Mass, he was much friendlier,” her husband said. “He was nice. He grinned and chuckled.
“He was very honorable,” Shackleton said. “You could trust him. He took care of the sick and the elderly. Those were all good attributes.”
In 1970, Father Remaklus became pastor of St. Mary Church, Alexandria.
St. Mary parishioner George Diruzza got to know his new pastor well, and traveled to Italy and Texas with him.
“He delivered excellent homilies,” he said, “and if he liked you, he would bend over backwards for you.
“He could be harsh,” Diruzza said, “but he had a kind heart. When it came to the nuns at St. Mary’s, he went all out for them. He loved those nuns and he backed them up to the hilt … If you were sick, he made sure he was there to see you.”
Joanne Sullivan, of Alexandria, knew Father Remaklus well. She served on the parish council during his pastorate.
“He was very good with the sick and elderly — very, very kind and compassionate,” Sullivan said.
She said his softer side was revealed through his love of music and art. He bought an organ for the church, and enjoyed showing people his art collection.
“He had a great love of good art,” Sullivan said. “He had some lovely things that he had brought back from trips to Europe, beautiful pieces of glass. He treasured those things.”
Father Remaklus’ last pastorate was in 1985 at St. Joseph Church, Winchester. He served there just two months before being granted retirement on Sept. 3, 1985.
His funeral Mass was to be held Aug. 26 at St. Mary, Alexandria, with Bishop William L. Higi the principal celebrant. Burial was to be at Holy Trinity cemetery in Bryant.
May he rest in peace.