St. Zachary's associate pastor 'a very human priest'

An associate pastor from St. Zachary Catholic Church in Des Plaines, who served 39 years in the priesthood, has died.

The Rev. Anthony Puchenski passed away on Aug. 11 after a long battle with cancer. He was 65.

A funeral Mass took place Monday at St. Zachary's, where Fr. Puchenski had been assigned last year. His services drew an overflow crowd of worshippers, including 40 priests from the Archdiocese of Chicago and four bishops.

Bishop John Manz, his classmate from the seminary, was the main celebrant, while the Rev. Josephy Mulcrone, who heads up the Archdiocese's Office for the Deaf, delivered the sermon.

Mulcrone described his seminary classmate as someone who always wanted to be a parish priest and was happy and fulfilled in that role.

"He always felt that the church should be there for people," Mulcrone said, "and that Mass being done well, with good music and good liturgy, was a way to touch people's hearts."

Parishioners at St. Zachary's came to know Fr. Puchenski through his Mass celebrations, and through his involvement with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is the Archdiocese's program of instruction for those wishing to become Catholics.

"He was a very human priest, who really preached well to the people," said the Rev. Jack Plotkowski, pastor of St. Zachary's. "One thing that people really appreciated, was that he always had a joke at the end of Mass. They liked that."

Fr. Puchenski already had been diagnosed with cancer when he arrived at St. Zachary's, which limited his involvement in the parish, Plotkowski said. But he still said Mass and delivered the sacraments regularly.

"One of his hallmarks was that he liked good music, which fortunately we're blessed to have good music here at St. Zachary's," Plotkowski added. "He thought it was an important component with our sacraments."

Before coming to Des Plaines, Fr. Puchenski had spent the bulk of his ministry in the Southwest suburbs.

A native of the Midway East area of the city, Fr. Puchenski started his ministry at one of his old neighborhood churches, at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in 1971.

Subsequent assignments took him to St. Damian in Oak Forest and St. Patricia in Hickory Hills, before serving as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church on Chicago's southwest side and later of St. Julie Billiart in Tinley Park.

Before coming to St. Zachary's, Fr. Puchenski helped out as an associate pastor at four parishes in Lemont.

Fr. Puchenski is survived by his sister, Mary Wolter.