Deacon Dennis K. Webster
Retired - St. Catherine of Siena, Pittstown
35 Years
Dennis K. Webster credits a priest with planting the seed that slowly sprouted toward Webster becoming a deacon.
“In the early years following my marriage to my wife Kathleen, and the birth of our first three children, I would attend Mass in the Church of St. Michael, Cranford, as a non-Catholic,” Deacon Webster said. He met the late Msgr. John Davis, who served the parish as pastor from 1969-1982.
“He took an interest in me, and invited me, in a welcoming way, to join the Catholic Church,” said Deacon Webster, who was eventually ordained by the Metuchen Diocese’s second bishop, the late Edward T. Hughes. The late Rev. J. William Mickiewicz, who was pastor of St. John Neumann Parish, Califon, vested Deacon Webster during his 1989 ordination at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral.
The Hunterdon County resident has served three Hunterdon County parishes including St. John, Immaculate Conception, Annandale, and St. Catherine of Siena, Baptistown.
He said he has felt accepted and welcomed over the years into church members’ most intimate and precious moments of their lives, from birth to death.
Among the highlights of his ministry, Deacon Webster cited witnessing a wedding of a St. Catherine’s parishioner at the Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, Maryland, and participating in several funerals for parishioners from St. John at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
While family obligations keep Deacon Webster from being as active in ministry as he would like,he still tries to attend to one area that has been his main interest: shut-ins.
“Before being ordained I would bring communion to a woman who had multiple sclerosis,” he said. “I always seemed to be drawn to people who were sick. I did feel a connection and still do to this day.”
The Elizabeth native trained to be a certified shorthand reporter in federal court but changed careers within the federal government and has been working under the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Lyons VA Medical Center in New Jersey.
He and Kathleen have five adult children and six grandsons.
“As I look back over these last 35 years,” Deacon Webster said, “I give thanks to God, who I feel called me to this vocation to serve.”
By Anthony Salamone, Correspondent
Deacon George L. Bolash
St. Mary, Alpha
30 Years
Deacon George always had a calling to be a priest but then he met his wife, Mary Elizabeth. However, the Lord was not done seeking him out. “I think our Blessed Mother pointed me to the diaconate,” he revealed. While visiting the Shrine of the Blessed Mother in Washington, he remembers kneeling before her statue and reading a sign, which said, “’Please do not touch our Blessed Mother, she will touch you.’ And she did.”
After graduating from high school in 1945, Deacon George became a lineman for New Jersey Power and Light. He then worked for Bell Telephone, followed by AT&T Long Lines in Morristown, retiring in 1992.
In 1991, he returned to school for diaconate training. He received his certificate in ministry from the College of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station and was ordained by Bishop Edward T. Hughes in St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen, in 1994. He was assigned to St. Mary Parish, Alpha, for five years, then transferred to St. Joseph Parish, Washington, from 1999 to 2007, and then back to St. Mary’s through 2022.
“I still remember when Bishop Hughes told us at our first meeting … that we would become a lot closer to Christ, and that was absolutely true,” he recalled. “The experience not only brought me closer to Christ but also to our Blessed Mother.” Thus, his mission has always been: “To bring everyone closer to Christ and our Blessed Mother.”
After serving for 27 years, Deacon George retired from ministry two years ago. His wife passed away five years ago, after 65 years of marriage, but he is blessed with three children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. “Serving as a deacon was a wonderful experience,” he expressed. He enjoyed serving the people most of all, especially teaching the RCIA program and bringing the Eucharist to those who could not get to Mass.
By Anna M. Githens, Correspondent
Deacon John Czekaj
Immaculate Conception, Somerville
30 Years
Deacon John Czekaj has a three-pronged approach to serving God’s people. He said, “First, I use the ministry of presence which fosters the building of relationships with those to whom I minister. As a sower, I provide seeds for parishioners to have thoughts about Jesus. This leads to a deeper spiritual union with God.”
Along with the regular duties of a deacon, he enjoyed his time spent ministering to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Green Brook Regional Center from 2000 to 2010.
Having been educated in Catholic schools for most of his life, Deacon Czekaj said that he was “always aware of the importance of having a relationship with God.”
He feels that the calling to his vocation was “specifically Trinitarian.” He responded as each person does when called, “such as Mary responded to the Angel Gabriel.”
Deacon Czekaj earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1970, while also majoring in theology. Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, later Novartis, employed him as a biologist from 1971 to 2009.
He completed his diaconate training in St. Elizabeth College, Convent Station, in 1994, and was ordained that same year by the late Bishop Edward T. Hughes in St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen. Deacon Czekaj also earned a Focus Group Pre-Marital Certification.
He began ministry as a deacon in Sacred Parish, New Brunswick, then served in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Three Bridges, followed by Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Middlesex, and moving to Immaculate Conception Parish, Somerville, from 2012 to the present.
Deacon Czekaj and wife, Barbara Ann, have three children, and he is an avid fisherman and gardener.
By Marianne Komek, correspondent