Detroit -- Sr. Barbara Celeskey, SJ, who had been chancellor and director of education for the Archdiocese of Detroit and who had served as superior general for the Servants of Jesus, died May 9 following a long illness.
Sr. Celeskey was 78 and had been in religious life for 59 years. Most of that time she had ministered in education, and she had been deeply involved in her religious orders and in various posts within the archdiocese, as well.
She will be waked from 2 until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, at Wessels and Wilk Funeral Home, 23690 Woodward in Pleasant Ridge (at 9 ½ Mile Road). A Scripture service will be held at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, she will lay in repose from 10 a.m. until the time of her funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of La Salette Church, 2600 Harvard on the corner of Coolidge in Berkley.
Born April 4, 1933 to Leonard and Josephine Celeskey, she grew up in Detroit, attending St. Casimir High School.
Sr. Celeskey began her religious life as a Felician in 1952. She earned her bachelor's degree in math from Madonna University; a Masters of Science degree in math from the University of Notre Dame; and a master's degree in Theology from St. John Seminary in Plymouth Township. As a Felician, she had been principal of Ladywood High School in Livonia; dean of students and director of admissions at the Felician-sponsored Madonna College (now University) in Livonia; and a teacher at Muskegon Catholic Central, Ladywood, and Catholic Central High School in Toledo. She also had taught at St. Michael and St. Edith parishes in Livonia and St. Hilary Parish in Detroit.
She served as chairwoman of the Felician's government commission, as a member on the order's formation and coordination commissions, and as a delegate to its provincial chapters.
In 1973-74, she and some other sisters founded the religious order Servants of Jesus, whose focus is living the Gospel "radically" in response to the Second Vatican Council. Sr. Celeskey served as superior general of the community from 1973 until 1980. During that time, she also became active as a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and as chairwoman of the vicariate education commission in the Northwest Wayne Vicariate. She was known also for giving presentations at education conferences, training catechists, educating parish councils and parishioners in theology, and sacramental preparation.
Due to her extensive ministry in education, then-Archbishop Edmund Szoka in 1983 named Sr. Celeskey Director of Education for the Archdiocese of Detroit. In that post she was charged with implementing a reorganization plan set forth by the cardinal and developing educational programs to meet the needs of schools in the Detroit archdiocese.
Sr. Celeskey later became chancellor of the Archdiocese of Detroit in September 1990, having been appointed so by then-Archbishop Adam Maida. She was not only the first woman chancellor, but also the first non-priest to hold the position locally. As the Code of Canon law changed in 1987 to allow non-priests to be chancellors of dioceses, she was among the first non-priest chancellors in the nation.
In an interview with The Michigan Catholic prior to her retirement in June 2003, Sr. Celeskey talked about her responsibilities as chancellor -- including putting out reports to the Vatican, such as the regular Quinquennial Report requested by the Vatican every five years.
She also was instrumental in producing "Make Straight the Path," the official book marking the 300th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Upon her retirement from the archdiocesan chancery, Sr. Celeskey ministered within her religious order and remained active on various boards.
Sr. Celeskey is survived by her siblings Jerry, Patricia (Norbert) Zapinski, Corinne (the late George) Wiland, and Roni (John) Nantais; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Condolences may be left and read at the Wessels and Wilk Funeral Home website.
