Casimir

On December 3, 2003 CASIMIR, beloved son of the late John and Martha Kucharczyk; brother of Frances Wdzieczny, Stephanie Perez, Milton Kucharczyk, Dan Kucharczyk, Marie Fischer and Elizabeth MichaelChristian Wake Service at Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 2525 Fleet St, on Friday at 7 p.m. Funeral Mass in Holy Rosary Churh on Saturday at 10 a.m. Interment Holy Rosary Cemetery. visiting hours Friday 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m.

Portraying the Living Stations of the Cross is an annual Lenten ritual that the 13 eighth-grade students at St. Casimir Catholic School in Canton anticipate with as much fervor as the other crowning events that define their last months of grammar school. "I remember seeing this when I was in kindergarten," said Leonard Rulka, who portrayed the Apostle John. "I could not wait until it was my turn to be in it. " Prayers at the 14 stations, which are typically sculptures adorning the side walls of the sanctuary, are a customary Lenten observance for Catholics.

On January 24, 2006, CASIMIR C. JASKULSKI, beloved husband of Marie B. Jaskulski, devoted father of Dennis C. Jaskulski & his wife Susan, Paula A. Lanzi and her husband Stephen Jenkins, cherished grandfather of Nicole M. Lanzi, Dennis C. Jaskulski, Jr., Danielle M. Jaskulski. Friends may call at the family owned Evans Chapel of Memories - Parkville on Friday 3-5 and 7-9 P.M. A funeral liturgy will be held 9 A.M. Saturday at St. Ursula's Catholic Church, 8801 Harford Rd., Parkville, MD 21234.

The Canton neighborhood has discovered how good it is to give back. In the past four years, as an old convent found new life as a home to dozens of bone-marrow transplant patients and their families, Southeast Baltimore residents and business people have brought meals and love to families caught up in complicated medical treatments that stretch over many months. The Believe in Tomorrow House at St. Casimir — just off Canton's O'Donnell Square — has become the focus of neighborhood goodwill.

St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church, Kenwood Avenue and O'Donnell Street in Canton, will hold a parish mission, "Behold, I make all things new," at 7 p.m. March 26-29. On March 26, the Rev. Joe Breighner, an author and radio speaker, will discuss "Spirituality and a Psychology of Self-Worth"; March 27, "From Self-Love to Love of Others;" and March 28, "When Life Doesn't Make Sense." On March 29, a healing and reconciliation service will be held. Child care will be provided. Information: 410-276-1981.

In one fell swoop, Tony Anuszewski dipped the ice cream scooper into the large stainless-steel bowl, leveled off another glob of sticky codfish cake concoction with his right hand and flung it onto an orange cafeteria tray.A crew of coddie veterans -- showing the way to a handful of novices at Canton's St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church -- scrambled to pick up the gooey piles and mold them into little discs.Each of the past six weeks, they have made up to 2,000 of the Baltimore delicacies, with 100 crab cakes and 50 pounds of potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw.

The Rev. Casimir Pugevicius, a champion of Lithuanian religious rights during the Soviet era, died Tuesday of cancer at St. Vincent de Paul's rectory in downtown Baltimore. He was 71. Born to Lithuanian immigrant parents in Southwest Baltimore near Carroll Park, he was a strong voice for his family's Baltic homeland. "Father Pugevicius was always the symbol of courage and the truth," said Rolandas Kacinskas, Lithuanian Embassy press secretary. The Lithuanian government recently awarded him the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas for his years of activism in the 1970s and 1980s, when church activity was not officially banned, but those who attended Masses were observed by Soviet KGB agents and faced other forms of harassment.

Three-year-old Landon Morrill is perhaps too young to understand the power of positive thinking. But to see the joy in his smile and the bounce in his step, you would never think that he recently underwent a wrenching bone-marrow transplant - after his parents were told he had a 1-in-10 chance of surviving treatment for his leukemia. "Can you do Happy Feet?" his mother, Colleen, asked, referring to the animated film with dancing penguins. Landon then frolicked as he tapped his tiny feet on the floor, occasionally hamming it up for all who watched with delight.

Above the domes atop Canton's St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church, more than 100 feet in the air, gusts of wind occasionally send Michael Kramer's thin flakes of gold flying into the sky. "There goes a couple bucks," jokes Kramer, a gilder who is putting the finishing touches on a three-month, $40,000 restoration project at the church that symbolizes the resurgence of St. Casimir and the once-bustling Polish settlement it was built to anchor. After 50 years of slow deterioration, both are growing.

The twin spires of St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church have stood like sentinels in the heart of Canton for 75 years, signposts for the neighborhood, markers for sailors plying the harbor and a comfort for the faithful, pointing ever upward toward the heavens. The parish, a century old next year, is in the midst of the most profound change in its history. So too the neighborhood. From its beginnings as an urban, ethnic church serving Polish immigrants, St. Casimir now finds itself ministering to young, upscale professionals while still attending to the needs of its aging, more traditional parishioners.

Casimir A."Wyatt Earp" Potyraj Sr., a retired city police officer who was an ubiquitous presence on Belair-Edison streets for more than three decades, died July 9 of complications from an infection at Franklin Square Hospital Center. He was 84. The son of Polish immigrants, Mr. Potyraj was born and raised on Elliott Street in Canton. He attended city public schools until dropping out in 1941 to take a job as a laborer for 28 cents an hour at the old Atlantic-Southwestern Broom Factory in Canton.

Three-year-old Landon Morrill is perhaps too young to understand the power of positive thinking. But to see the joy in his smile and the bounce in his step, you would never think that he recently underwent a wrenching bone-marrow transplant - after his parents were told he had a 1-in-10 chance of surviving treatment for his leukemia. "Can you do Happy Feet?" his mother, Colleen, asked, referring to the animated film with dancing penguins. Landon then frolicked as he tapped his tiny feet on the floor, occasionally hamming it up for all who watched with delight.

On June 7, 2007, JAMES J. RUTKOWSKI of Forest Hill, MD. Beloved husband of Mary Rutkowski (nee Binkowski). Devoted father of Irene M. Rogers and her husband Nelson. Loving brother of Mitchell Rutkowski and the late Casimir Rutkowski, Tienie Ichniowski, Jessie Ichniowski, Marie Leasure, and Jeanette Wieczynski. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Forest Hill, MD on Monday, June 11, 2007 at 10:30 A.M. Interment will be in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Baltimore, MD. Friends may call at the family owned McComas Funeral Home, P.A., Abingdon, MD on Sunday, June 10th from 2-4 & 7-9 P.M. Those who desire may contribute to Alzheimers Disease Association, 1850 York Road, Suite D, Timonium, MD 21093-5142.

The sound of more than a thousand singing voices spilled out the doors of St. Casimir Church in Canton yesterday afternoon as 10 young people emerged into the sunshine carrying a 10-foot wooden cross on their shoulders. Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, emerged next with several other members of the clergy. And then hundreds of young Catholics poured out onto the sidewalk and started proceeding down the street. Mae Richardson, coordinator of youth ministry for Sacred Heart Parish of Glyndon, looked at the noisy, briskly moving sea of young people stretching for blocks along the edge of Patterson Park.

On July 13, 2006, V. THEODORE "TED" COMEAU, beloved husband of Leocadia "Doris" Comeau (nee Kucinska) devoted father of Carol Tiderman and her companion Craig Hindman, Denise Comeau-Rossi and her husband Thomas and Renee Wooding and her husband Dave. Life long friend of Bertha Delano of Tunbridge, Vermont. Christian Wake Service @ Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 1201 Dundalk Ave. on Sunday 7:30 P.M. Funeral Mass in St. Casimir's Church on Monday @ 8:30 A.M. Interment in Garrison Forest V.A. Cemetery.

On July 2, 2006, EVA V. NAWROCKI (nee Korzeniewski); beloved wife of the late Theodore M. Nawrocki; devoted mother of Rose Marie, David, Jerry, Patsy, Donna, Mark, Kenny and the late Teddy and Darlene; dear sister of Marie Burkhardt; also survived by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Friends may call at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk, Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue, on Wednesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at ST. Casimir Church on Thursday, at 9:30 A.M. Interment St. Stanislaus Cemetery.

On May 21, 2006. PHILIP CECIL RICE, JR. of Chester, Maryland, from lung, pancreatic, and liver cancer at age 75. United States Marine and veteran of Korean and Vietnam wars, English teacher at Edmonson High School in Baltimore City, and recreational sailor in his long and happy retirement. Survived by best friends Lawrence D. Hart, Myra Mc Cain, Don and Barbara Herfel, Ruth "Fairy Godmother" Stelzer, and Pudd'n; and his five children: Victoria Lynn Rummel, Michael Francis Rice, Kate Elizabeth Rice, Leah Spring Ryan, and Casimir Alexander Rice.