DETROIT — Not all priests would immediately stop what they’re doing and celebrate Mass just for you. But Fr. Valentine Americo Gattari would.

That’s the first thing Paulette Andre, a parishioner of SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Sterling Heights, recalled about the priest, who died Sept. 24 at the age of 86.

Andre said it was New Year’s Day “maybe 10 to 15 years ago,” and she was scheduled to work. She had only a small amount of time to get to Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God.

She went to St. Matthias Parish in Sterling Heights, thinking the 9:30 a.m. Mass would be perfect before she had to go into work. When she learned Mass was actually later in the day, she was very upset she would miss it.

Andre sat in front of the church’s tabernacle and cried, but “next thing I know, here comes Fr. Val. I didn’t really know him,” she said.

“He said, ‘Are you the lady that wanted the Mass celebrated?’” Andre recalled. “I said yes; he said ‘Wait one minute.’”

Fr. Gattari vested, lit the candles, and celebrated his first Mass of the new year just for Andre. “(It was) the kindest thing one human being can do for another,” she remembered. “I think that will probably go down in my life as the most beautiful thing that ever happened.”

Born in Detroit on April 23, 1928, to Henry and Maria Gattari, the future Fr. Gattari attended Sacred
Heart Seminary in Detroit, and North American College in Rome, and was ordained to the priesthood June 5, 1954.

After celebrating his first Mass at St. Elizabeth Church in Detroit, Fr. Gattari went on to serve as associate pastor at St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Harper Woods (1954); St. Margaret Mary Parish, Detroit (1955-60); St. Barnabas Parish, Eastpointe (1960-65); Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Detroit (1965-67); and Visitation Parish, Detroit (1967-68).

He served as temporary parochial administrator of Annunciation/Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Detroit, in 1987, and later became pastor. He served the parish until 1998, and also served as vicar for the East Side Vicariate from 1994-96.

Fr. Gattari also served as chaplain at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township from 1969-70; Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center from 1969-70; and DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit from 1970-74. He was spiritual director to the Legion of Mary Regia Council of Michigan in Canton from 2004-06, and served as chaplain of the Knights of Columbus Council No. 7011 in Sterling Heights from 2008 until his death.

Fr. Gattari received senior priest status in 1998, and celebrated 60 years of priesthood this past June.

Fr. Benjamin Kosnac, pastor of SS. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) Parish in Sterling Heights, said he is grateful for Fr. Gattari’s assistance with weekday Masses and with hearing confessions on both weekdays and Sundays.

“He was my regular confessor, and I am grateful very much for his insight, his guidance,” said Fr. Kosnac, recalling Fr. Gattari’s tradition of giving a little post-communion reflection on the saint of the day during daily Mass: “That was like his typical feature; I think people enjoyed it very much.”

Fr. Kosnac said Fr. Gattari usually concelebrated the noon weekday Masses, followed by their sharing lunch.

“During lunch he shared with us younger priests what he heard on the (Catholic) radio … he loved to listen to Fr. John Riccardo,” said Fr. Kosnac, referring to the pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth who hosts a radio program on Ave Maria Radio. He said Fr. Gattari frequently shared recorded Catholic talks with people, and also made copies of religious magazine articles to pass on.

Chuck Spindler, who knew Fr. Gattari since 1993, said he was “known as a confession priest. People went to confession to him as a very compassionate and caring confessor.”

Spindler said it was well-known that if Fr. Gattari was ever a few minutes late for his scheduled Mass, “you would always find him in the confessional taking care of the last penitent.”

Fr. Gattari was also known for a great sense of humor, Spindler said, recalling a time he concelebrated Mass with two priests who were in their late 80s and 90s. Fr. Gattari, being 83 at the time, joked that “he was the youngest; a kid on the altar.”

Spindler said Fr. Gattari performed anointing of the sick on him prior to a heart procedure, and his caring for parishioners and friends “was his most singular trait. He was a man who knew what the Church taught, and he could defend it. But always with a twinkle in his eye.”

Fr. Gattari was preceded in death by his parents and sister Gloria (Frank). He is survived by brother Remo (Rosemarie); brother Gino (Beverly); 14 nieces and nephews, and 20 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Visitation took place on Sept. 26 at SS. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) Parish, and funeral liturgy was celebrated there Sept. 27. Interment is at Resurrection Cemetery, 18201 Clinton River Rd., Clinton Twp., MI, 48038.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations made to Holy Family Parish in Africa. Please make checks payable to SS. Cyril and Methodius/Africa; mail to SS. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church, 41233 Ryan Road, Sterling Heights, MI, 48314.