Deacon, decorated military veteran mourned at funeral Mass

EDISON — The life of “a servant of the Church, the community and the nation” was celebrated April 19 at a funeral Mass for Deacon Frank Yuhas at St. Matthew the Apostle Church. The deacon of 13 years died April 13 at the age of 72.
 

Fellow deacons of the diocese paid tribute to their brother along with numerous Vietnam veterans who had served in that conflict. The congregation and choir sang “Be Not Afraid” through their COVID masks as clergy made their way to the altar.
 

Father Frank W. Fellrath, parochial vicar, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Old Bridge, presided at the Mass. Father George Targonski, pastor of St. Matthew’s, concelebrated; and Msgr. Seamus F. Brennan, senior priest at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Martinsville, gave the homily.
 

Msgr. Brennan, who had served as pastor at St. Matthew Parish during the deacon’s tenure, noted the community had gathered just six weeks prior for the funeral of Deacon Yuhas’ wife, Kristine. Appropriately, the cleric had chosen the Gospel from Matthew (11:28-30) with Christ’s invitation “Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest… My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
 

“To be a deacon, one has to have a heart to serve,” Msgr. Brennan said. “Frank was childlike in the best sense of the word: someone who, despite his health issues, continued to soldier on, endure, see the best in life. He served people any way he could, not just at the altar.
 

“He had the heart of a deacon, an inquisitive mind and great compassion for people in need. He knew he was loved and forgiven. God invites us to hear those same words, to ‘come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest.’ Frank did that every day; we pray we can do the same.”
 

Msgr. Brennan concluded, “Frank spent many years in his profession building and servicing elevators. I pray that Frank is on one of those express elevators to the Lord.”
 

Born in Perth Amboy, Deacon Yuhas grew up in Fords and later moved to Edison. He served in Vietnam from 1968-1970 in the 25th Infantry Division, where he earned the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, and Vietnam Gallantry with Palm. Upon his return from Vietnam, he was employed as an elevator mechanic in New York.
 

Deacon Yuhas earned certification in religious studies at Felician College, Lodi; a graduate certificate in spiritual direction at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb.; and a certificate in parish administration at Loyola University, New Orleans.
 

He was ordained to the diaconate in June 2007, and served first at St. Matthew the Apostle Parish, then Sacred Heart Parish, South Plainfield, until his retirement.
 

While ministering in the Edison parish, Deacon Yuhas served in grief ministry, director of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and youth minister for the combined St. Matthew Parish and Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, program.
 

Ed Marczak, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 223, led a coterie of fellow veterans paying tribute to the deacon. Following the funeral Mass, members led a solemn ceremony on the church portico, including a military salute, the playing of “Taps,” and an American flag presentation to the family.
 

“We are all family,” Marczak said through misty eyes. “Frank came back [from the war] a different person, but he found the Church. We will light a candle for him at our next meeting.”
 

Deacon Rick Fortune, who exercises his ministry at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, credited his fellow deacon with his own faith conversion, posting on Facebook, “Frank literally walked me into the Catholic faith, as he was my RCIA leader, teaching and guiding me to the day of my confirmation at the Easter Vigil in 2002.
 

“A few short weeks ago, I watched as Frank buried his bride,” Deacon Fortune continued. “A few years before that, both of his sons, back-to-back. And through it all, Frank walked strong in the faith, confident in the Easter promise. So now, I pray he has gone to live in that promise, and that in Jesus Christ, Frank is once again together with his family and our brother, Deacon Barry Demarest, who inspired both of us to pursue life as deacons.”
 

Deacon Yuhas was predeceased by Kristine, his wife of 51 years, in 2021; his sons, Jonathan in 2017 and Christian in 2013, and his brother-in-law, Alan Deverin, in 2008.
 

Surviving are his sisters-in-law, nephews and great-nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Wounded Warriors at woundedwarriorproject.org.
 

Arrangements were handled by Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, Metuchen