Rev. Richard Kozak, 84, pastor emeritus at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Homewood, died April 15. He was associate pastor from 1998 to 2002 and served as the parish’s pastor from 2002 until his retirement in 2015.

“After retiring, he said he intended to minister to others as long as the Lord gives him breath. He then started ministering at Saint Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Valparaiso, where he lived,” said Cecilia Cicone of the Diocese of Gary.

“Fr. Rich also served many churches in the area, including Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wanatah, St. Mary Catholic Church in Otis and St. Martin Catholic Church in LaCrosse as well as celebrating Masses at several nursing homes and other churches where he was needed.”

A funeral mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 24, at Sacred Heart Church in Wanatah, Indiana.

Fr. Kozak was pastor when the Parish of St. Joseph marked its 100th anniversary in 2012. He called that one of the highlights of his time as pastor. 

Cutting staff as St. Joseph School enrollment dwindled was one of the hardest things he was called upon to do.

“He helped us weather through that and he supported the teachers,” said Marianne Reilly, who taught there for 37 years.

She said Fr. Kozak cared about the parish and the community of Homewood. “For someone who wasn’t seeking a pastor’s position, he stepped in and did a wonderful job.”

After parish consolidation in 2022, St. Joseph Church blended with two other parishes as St. John Neumann Parish in Homewood.

Fr. Kozak was a priest for nearly 60 years, serving for 48 years in the Archdiocese of Chicago before serving in the Diocese of Gary.

He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in April 1967 and served as assistant or associate pastor at St. Felicitas Parish in Chicago, St. Simeon Parish in Bellwood, St. Maria Goretti Parish in Schiller Park, Sacred Heart Parish in Melrose Park and St. Joseph in Homewood.

His St. Joseph parishioners remember him as a kind and generous person who often reminded them of how much he loved being a priest. 

Jack and Marge Hayes, long-time parishioners, said they last heard from Fr. Kozak through an Easter greeting he sent.

“He lived the perfect life. He was healthy and doing the thing he loved the most right up until the end,” Hayes said.

“Fr. Rich had a tremendous love for and deep appreciation of music and the arts. … His years in various choirs helped him develop an enormous, powerful singing voice,” said John Ligda, director of music for St. Joseph’s.

Ligda recalled how an electrical storm destroyed the components of the parish organ in 2007. Fr. Kozak led an effort to fund the state-of-the-art digital instrument. In less than four weeks $40,000 was raised.

“I never met a priest who was more supportive and dedicated to the beauty of music in the Divine Liturgy,” Ligda said.

“Fr. Kozak believed in the power of music to bring peace and joy. He was kind and reached out to support causes and people in need,” said parishioner Mary Ellen Brabec.