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| Fr. Anthony Maksymowski |
Often when one attends a wake, you are given a memorial card containing birth and death information about the departed and a prayer. Many times the card also contains burial information - the name of the cemetery and the location of the grave. Since these cards contain valuable genealogical information, when I find one I add it to the appropriate Find a Grave page.
When Catholic priests are ordained, the custom was to hand out similar cards as a remembrance of the day. When my friends find that I collect both of these kinds of remembrance cards, they often give me cards they have received through the years remembering family and friends.
Recently a friend of mine gave me this card:
The card is in Polish and translates as follows:
A Priest Forever
Souvenir of
Priestly Ordination
and
First
Solemn High Mass
7-14 August 1927
Fr. Anthony Maksymowski
x
Jesus, be this day a proof of my gratitude:
bless those who brought me to Thy Holy Altar.
On the other side is a drawing of Jesus knocking at the door.
Since I am always looking for interesting stories for this blog I thought I would look up Fr. Anthony Maksymowski. I assumed he was dead, since he was ordained almost one hundred years ago but I thought it would be interesting to see how his life turned out.
Here's what I "dug up" about Fr. Maksymowski:
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| The Grand Rapids (MI) Press - 05 Jul 1928 |
Yikes! Fr. Maksymowski drowned less than one year after his Ordination. A sad tale indeed. Let's see what else we can find out about Father Maksymowski.
Anthony Alexander Maksymowski was born June 7, 1901 (some sources say June 6) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His parents were Alexander Joseph Maksymowski (1879-1954) and Rosalia Milianowska (1876-1923). Both had emigrated from Limanowa, Krakow, Poland. Alexander had come to the US in 1899; Rosalia in 1883. They were married September 3, 1900 in St. Isidore's Church, Grand Rapids:
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| St. Isidore's Church, Grand Rapids. Michigan |
Alexander worked in a Furniture Factory. Anthony was their only child.
Anthony Maksymowski makes his first appearance in the 1910 US Census. The Maksymowski family lived at #116 Emerald Avenue in Grand Rapids. That number no longer exists. The family consisted of Alexander (29 years old), Rose (30), and Anthony (8). All three were White. It was the first marriage for Alexander and Rose; they had been married nine years. Rose had given birth to one child who was still alive in 1910. They both incorrectly stated that they had emigrated in 1900. Their citizenship status was "Pa" meaning that Alexander had declared his intention to become an American citizen and had taken out his ‘‘first papers.’’
All three could read, write and speak English. Alexander indicated that his occupation was "Polisher in a Furniture Factory". Anthony attended school. They lived in a house, and they owned it free and clear.
On June 11, 1915 "Tony" Maksymowski graduated from the Plainfield Elementary School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was fourteen years old.
The 1920 US census finds the Maksymowski family living at #814 Lyon Street in Grand Rapids:
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| 814 Lyon Street, Grand Rapids, Michigan |
The family consisted of Alexander (42 years old), Rose (44), and Anthony (18). It was ten years since the 1910 US Census - how come Alexander was thirteen years older and Rose fourteen? It usually works the other way - people shave years off their age from census to census. As I have said many times, the census data is notoriously unreliable because one could tell the enumerator anything without having to back it up. At least Anthony's age is correct.
They owned their house free and clear. Alexander said he came to the US in 1898 (it was really 1899). His immigration status is still "Pa." Although in the 1910 US census they said they could both read and write, for the 1920 Census Alexander and Rose said they could neither read nor write. Alexander and Rose now said they were both born in Poland and that their native tongue was "Polish." Alexander now reported his occupation as "Finisher in Furniture Factory."
It is not known whether Anthony Maksymowski attended the local high school in Grand Rapids or not. In those days, if a boy felt he had a vocation to be a priest, he often attended the minor seminary of the diocese where he studied both the general curriculum as well as beginning his studies for the priesthood.
We do know that Anthony Maksymowski entered the seminary in 1919 when he was eighteen years old. He was sponsored by his home parish, St. Isidore, the same parish where his parents were married in 1900. He began his seminary training at St. Joseph Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
He graduated as part of the Class of 1922:
Anthony's mother, Rosalia Milianowska Maksymowski died on her birthday, June 24, 1923 at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids:
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| St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan |
The Cause of Death was Breast Cancer and Exhaustion. She was forty-six years old. Here is her Death Certificate:
She was buried in the Polish Catholic Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Holy Cross. Here is her Death Notice:
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| The Grand Rapids Press, 27 Jun 1923 |
Here is her grave:
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| Photo by Find a Grave Volunteer Angela Owens Jando |
Anthony continued his studies at the Seminary of Philosophy in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He received the "Tonsure" the first step in the progression toward Holy Orders, on December 20, 1923 in Montreal, by Archbishop Gauthier:
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| Archbishop Georges Gauthier |
Anthony Maksymowski received Minor Orders on June 6, 1925, in Montreal, again by Archbishop Gauthier. He studied Theology at the Grand Seminary in Montreal:
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| The Grand Seminary, Montreal |
He was ordained a Deacon in Montreal on June 9, 1927, and ordained to the Sacred Priesthood on Saturday August 6, 1927 by Bishop Joseph G. Pinten:
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| Bishop Joseph G. Pinten |
He was ordained in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Grand Rapids:
After Ordination, he celebrated his first Solemn High Mass on Sunday August 7, 1927 at his home parish, St. Isidore. Then in the week following he said the three traditional "first Masses" of a newly ordained priest (Mass of the Holy Ghost, Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Mass for his deceased relatives) also at St. Isadore's.
Father Anthony Maksymowski's first assignment was to be Assistant Pastor at St. Ann's, Cadillac, Michigan:
That brings us to Fr. Anthony Maksymowski's death by drowning in the afternoon of Monday, July 2, 1928. He drowned in Sapphire Lake, between Cadillac and Lake City:
With Fr. Maksymowski when the accident occurred was Father Edward Neubecker (1895-1984). Here is Fr. Maksymowski's Death Certificate:
He was twenty-seven years old.
What caused the death of a healthy young man like Anthony Maksymowski? You can see his photo at the beginning of this article. He was a big, strapping, healthy man. Obviously the primary Cause of Death was drowning, but what (if any) were the contributing factors. If you look at the Death Certificate, the contributing factors section is blank. Further, no autopsy was done. What caused him to drown? A cramp, a loss of consciousness caused by hitting his head, a heart attack, a stroke, or something else? We will never know. Obviously drowning was enough but it would be helpful knowing if there were other contributing factors that caused him to drown.
The first Requiem Mass offered for Fr. Maksymowski was offered on July 4 at St. Ann's in Cadillac, Michigan by his friend who was with him when he drowned - Father Edward Neubecker. His body was then transported to Grand Rapids.
A Pontifical Requiem High Mass was offered July 5, 1928 at St. Isidore's Church, Fr. Maksymowski's home parish. The celebrant was Bishop Joseph G. Pinten, bishop of Grand Rapids, who had ordained Fr. Maksymowski less than one year before. Most of the clergy of the diocese attended the Requiem.
After the Mass, Father Anthony Maksymowski was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery "The Polish Cemetery" in Grand Rapids - the same cemetery as his mother. Here is his tombstone:
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| Photo by Find a Grave Volunteer Angela Owens Jando |
Thus ends the end of the story of Anthony Maksymowski - son, friend, and Catholic priest. After years of study he was finally starting to live out his vocation only to see his life snatched away in a moment. A sad tale indeed. May he rest in peace.
The rest of the story: Fr. Maksymowski's father, Alexander Maksymowski married for the second time on April 21, 1926 to Apolonia Zoppa Golembiewski (1874-1934) at Sand Lake, Michigan. Alexander died October 5, 1954 in Grand Rapids. He was seventy-four years old. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery next to his first wife.
