The Rev. Richard J. Kozak, longtime pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Homewood, which is now St. John Neumann Parish, died April 15. He was 84.
“I would call him a priest’s priest,” said George Maddock, a deacon with the parish since 1986. “He was just there to minister to the people, and whatever they wanted him to do, he would attempt to do it.”
Kozak was born Aug. 29, 1941, in Chicago, according to his obituary. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein.
“I’ve been a Catholic for 85 years, almost, and I have not served with anybody who was as kind and as gentle and as loving as Father K,” Maddock said.
Kozak was ordained April 27, 1967, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.
In a 2012 interview with the Chicago Catholic, the archdiocese’s newspaper, Kozak said he lost an eye in a sporting accident a month before he was ordained, on March 19, which is St. Joseph’s feast day.
“I’m convinced it deepened my spiritual vision of the Lord even though I lost physical vision,” Kozak told the Chicago Catholic. “I look back on my life and say, ‘Well Lord, I guess you had a plan for me.'”
Maddock first met Kozak in 1998, when Kozak joined the parish as associate pastor.
“He immediately was very outgoing and forthcoming to the various deacons that were at St. Joseph at the time, and also to the people there,” Maddock said. “His avocation was singing. He used to sing at the Apollo Chorus.”
Kozak was appointed parish pastor in 2002, and served in that role until his retirement in 2015.
John Ligda was hired by Kozak as the parish’s director of music in 2005.
“He obviously saw something in me, and gave me opportunities that led me in a wonderful path of life,” Ligda said. “I don’t know that I would have had that opportunity had I worked somewhere else.”
Ligda and Maddock both remembered Kozak as a lover of music who was empathetic and understanding in his ministry.
“He, as a priest, was just exceptional in his ability to care for people in important times,” Ligda said. “And shepherding a flock, which is no easy feat.”
Lidga noted the modernizing Second Vatican Council took place from 1963 to 1965, during Kozak’s seminary years, when he was preparing to join the priesthood.
“Father Rich experienced both the treasures of the pre-Vatican II church and the newest works composed for the post-Vatican II church,” Lidga said.
Church facilities were renovated during Kozak’s tenure as pastor, including improvements to lighting, flooring, landscaping and the building’s roof, according to the parish’s website.
“In the spirit of our patron saint, Father Kozak was also a good steward of parish facilities,” the website said. “During his time as pastor, the church was completely renovated both inside and out.”
As pastor, Kozak oversaw the church’s yearlong 100th anniversary celebrations in 2012.
“His years in various choirs helped him develop an enormous and powerful singing voice,” Lidga said. “That’s something he was known for. He had an enormous voice, and when he sang, everyone could hear him. When he preached, everyone could hear him.”
After retiring, Kozak settled in Valparaiso, where he continued to serve as a priest.
“He became acquainted or attached to what they call the Catholic communities out there, and it’s a group of three to four churches that have no pastors, no priests living there,” Maddock said. “The priests come in to say masses at various times, either during the week or especially on Saturday and Sunday.”
The people that Kozak ministered to during that period included nursing home residents and incarcerated prisoners, Maddock said.
“He got a chance out there, or an opportunity, I should say, to do what he wanted to do most, and that was just to minister to the people,” Maddock said.
Maddock said Kozak had particularly loved presiding over Holy Saturday evening Mass, which is typically a time for baptizing people into the Catholic church.
“There’s an opening, it’s not a song, really, it’s like an intonement,” Maddock said. “He would sing that. He would intone it. And because of his wonderful voice, it would just resonate through the church, and the church was always packed.”
elewis@chicagotribune.com
