DETROIT — If there was one thing for which Fr. Jim Profota was known, it was his habit of never missing a chance to celebrate.

Christmas, of course, was a given. But Fr. Profota, every holiday was a cause for joy.

“He was big on hospitality, big on decorating for the big holidays, and even the small ones,” said Dave Warren, a longtime friend. “For Advent, he would send out the little blue books to all his friends with little notes of thoughtful reflections for that season. Mother’s Day, he had a group that he would send out little gifts to.”

Fr. Profota, 71, who served for 41 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, died Dec. 11.

From 1989 to 2005, Fr. Profota was pastor of St. Basil the Great Parish in Eastpointe. He later served briefly as pastor of St. Hubert Parish in Harrison Township before earning senior priest status in 2007.

Fr. Profota was born Sept. 5, 1945, in Hamtramck to Henry and Lottie Profota. He attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township and was ordained April 26, 1975, for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

He served as an associate pastor at SS. Peter and Paul Parish (Westside), Detroit (1975-77); St. Mel Parish, Dearborn Heights (1977-79); and St. Jude Parish, Detroit (1979-82); before being given his first pastorate at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish in Detroit, where he served until 1989. He was vicar of the SERF Vicariate from 1998-2005.

Everyone knew of Fr. Profota’s love for the holidays, but that love sprang primarily from his love of people, said Warren, director of music ministry at St. Mary Queen of Creation Parish in New Baltimore who first met Fr. Profota during his early days at St. Jude.

“He loved to decorate every little thing. I’m talking Flag Day, the Fourth of July, he’d pull out the red, white and blue. On St. Joseph’s Day he’d pull out the loaves of bread,” Warren said. “When I looked in his database, he had over 600 names and addresses that he used to send cards and things throughout the year.”

Each year, Fr. Profota would celebrate a big Mass the night before Thanksgiving, Warren said, and invited the community to bring pies and food to share.

“He was just all about those little things,” Warren said. “He worked at friendships, and relationships were important to him.”

Those friendships were especially evident over the last 10 years of his life while battling Parkinson’s disease, when volunteers of all stripes would drive him to doctor’s appointments, hospital treatments or Mass.

While Fr. Profota loved to enjoy the holidays, it was his priesthood that gave him a cause for special joy, Warren said.

“He loved life, and he loved to celebrate the Gospel and bring the message of Jesus Christ. That was important to him. He made that his ministry. He lived his priesthood.”

Fr. Profota is survived by a brother, Gregory Profota, and a sister, Patricia (Robert) Rybinski. A funeral Mass was to be celebrated Dec. 17 at St. Blase Parish in Sterling Heights. Interment was to be in Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township.