Ministry took Deacon from fire houses to hospitals
As an ordained deacon in the Catholic church, Timothy Kryszak found an extension of his ministry in his day job, serving as chaplain to his fellow officers of the Hoffman Estates Fire Department.
Mr. Kryszak came up through the ranks to captain before retiring in 2002. In all, he served Hoffman Estates for 21 years during the years when the department doubled in size.
He passed away on Tuesday from cancer. The 27-year resident of Hoffman Estates was 57.
Colleagues in suburban fire departments said Mr. Kryszak's legacy will be the compassion he displayed as a chaplain and with the Critical Incident Stress Management Debriefing Team. The team, serving Northern Illinois, counsels first responders after major incidents.
Hoffman Estates Fire Chief Robert Gorvett said that as chaplain, Mr. Kryszak always made himself available to co-workers after a difficult call or when one of them suffered a family loss.
"It helped that he was a firefighter himself," Gorvett said. "He understood a firefighter's pain. He could totally relate."
Mr. Kryszak was among the stress management team that responded after a fiery plane crash in 1996 at what is now Chicago Executive Airport.
The crash killed all four passengers, and several surrounding fire departments responded, including Wheeling, Prospect Heights and Buffalo Grove, Gould recalled.
"He was among 15 people or so on the debriefing team," says Prospect Heights Fire Chief Rick Gould, who also worked with Mr. Kryszak in Hoffman Estates. "They made themselves available to firefighters from all of the different departments."
In 2005 he was hired by the Alexian Brothers to serve as chaplain to patients and their families at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates.
He initially served cardiac patients in the telemetry unit and procedures clinic, but recently added patients in the breast care center and cancer institute.
"He had a bedside manner that was very pastoral, he was sensitive to the needs of the patient," says Stan Kedzior, mission integration director for the Alexian Brothers Health System. "He could see the good in life, and in people, and at the same time he delivered his care with a great sense of humor."
The Alexian Brothers valued Mr. Kryszak's service to their patients so much they named him an Alexian Brother Associate, a rare honor.
Mr. Kryszak is survived by his wife, Charlene, and children Timothy J. Kryszak Jr. (Katie Pepple), Jennifer E. Kryszak, Jeanne M. (John) Heald and Anne M. (fiance, Dan Babbe) Kryszak; as well as two grandchildren.
A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. today at Church of Holy Spirit, 1451 Bode Road in Schaumburg.