Kolarec, William T.

Jesuit Father William T. Kolarec died Nov. 2, 2012, at St. Camillus Health Center in Wauwatosa, Wis. He was 79 years old, a Jesuit for 55 years, and a priest for 43 years.

Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Sept. 15, 1933, Fr. Kolarec attended grade school and high school in Grand Rapids and graduated from Marquette University in 1956. On Aug. 25, 1957, he entered the Society at the Oshkosh Jesuit Novitiate and then completed the usual Jesuit course of studies at St. Stanislaus, St. Louis University and St. Mary’s College/St. Louis University. He did regency at Sogang University in Seoul, Korea. He was ordained at Gesu Church in Milwaukee on June 4, 1969. After tertianship he pronounced his final vows on Feb. 2, 1976, at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Most of Fr. Kolarec’s years of active ministry were spent as an associate pastor and a hospital chaplain in Milwaukee and — for many years — in the Omaha area. He struggled with poor health from time to time and in 2008 moved to St. Camillus, where he remained until his death.