DETROIT — Jesuit Fr. Francis Budovic was active until just months before his death, driving from his residence at Colombiere in Clarkston to SS. Cyril & Methodius (Slovak) Church in Sterling Heights, where he had helped out nearly every day for the past 14 years.
“He would drive himself every day — at 91-and-a-half years old — from Clarkston to Sterling Heights and back,” said Fr. Benjamin Kosnac, pastor of the parish.
Fr. Kosnac said Fr. Budovic’s availability made it possible to add a second daily Mass and daily confessions at SS. Cyril & Methodius.
“People loved his homilies, every one of which he wrote out by hand, without ever recycling an old one or using canned material,” Fr. Kosnac said.
Besides his dedication, Fr. Budovic will also be remembered for his sense of humor. He was a great lover of puns, Fr. Kosnac recalled: “He would say something like, ‘Can you eat and fast at the same time?’ And while you were considering how that might be possible, he would say, ‘Eat fast,’”
Fr. Budovic also loved other people’s jokes, even if they were about his beloved Jesuit order. In 2005, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope, Fr. Budovic recalled for The Michigan Catholic a joke the cardinal had told him when they met in Bethlehem in 1992. “I introduced myself, and as soon as I said I was a Jesuit, he began telling a Jesuit-Franciscan joke,” he recounted.
Adding translations, Fr. Budovic retold the joke: “A Jesuit and a Franciscan priest were walking together in the forest, and the Jesuit wanted to see whether there was an echo. So, he called out in a loud voice, ‘Quod est Franciscanorum regula?’ (‘What is the rule of the Franciscans?’) And the echo came back, ‘-gula, -gula’ — gula in Latin means gluttony.
“Then the Franciscan calls out in a loud voice, ‘Fuitne Judas Jesuita?’ (‘Was Judas a Jesuit?’) And the echo came back, ‘-ita, -ita’ — Latin for yes, yes.”
Fr. Kosnac said Fr. Budovic was also a “great sportsman,” playing tennis and skiing into his late 80s. “He used to say we needed to have a balance between spiritual and physical exercises,” Fr. Kosnac recalled.
Fr. Budovic had become acquainted with Fr. Elemir Mikus, Fr. Kosnac’s predecessor as pastor of SS. Cyril & Methodius Parish, when they both worked with refugees in Vienna, Austria, and later helped out some at SS. Cyril & Methodius when he was teaching at University of Detroit Jesuit High School.
Years later, with Fr. Budovic again in the area, Fr. Kosnac invited him to help out again, which began the 14 years of regular service that continued through Easter of this year.
“He was a great example of priestly life and a very special man,” Fr. Kosnac added.
Fr. Budovic was hospitalized in May, then sent home to Colombiere Center, the Jesuit retirement residence in Clarkston. Two weeks later, on June 13, he died from congestive heart failure at Colombiere. He was 91.
Born Nov. 27, 1920, in Holic, Slovakia — then known as Czechoslovakia — he entered the Society of Jesus in Rosenberg, Slovakia. He was sent to Rome to complete his studies for the priesthood, and was ordained a priest there July 9, 1949.
Because Czechoslovakia had been taken over by communists, his superior advised him not to return home.
Fr. Budovic — who was already fluent in Slovak, Latin, Italian and French, learned English and came to the United States in 1950. He served in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Ontario and Michigan.
He taught at University of Detroit Jesuit High School (1979-83), was pastoral minister at St. Joseph Home for Aged in Detroit (1994-2003), and pastoral minister at Colombiere Center since 2003.
A funeral Mass was celebrated June 18 at SS. Cyril & Methodius (Slovak) Church, Sterling Heights, by Jesuit Fr. Richard Twohig, with Fr. Kosnac as homilist.
Burial was in Colombiere Center Cemetery, Clarkston.
Memorials to the Jesuits, 2050 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60514
