‘He chose to be grateful’. Msgr. Robert J. Zamorski remembered at funeral liturgies

“He loved to welcome people to the Cathedral as rector,” said Bishop James F. Checchio as he stood in the Metuchen Diocese’s mother church before the casket of Msgr. Robert J. Zamorski Nov. 3. “He welcomed me, now we are welcoming him.”

Bishop Checchio, dozens of fellow priests and a congregation of faithful filled the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi during two Masses to honor the life and works of Msgr. Zamorski, a retired priest of the Diocese: the Mass of Commemoration with principal celebrant Father Jonathan Toborowsky, Vicar General, Nov. 2, and the Mass of Christian Burial, Nov. 3, celebrated by the Bishop.

Msgr. Zamorski,77, died Oct. 28.

Born in New Brunswick, he was a graduate of St. Mary High School, South Amboy, and graduated from St. Mary College, Orchard Lake, Mich., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. He then earned a Master of Divinity degree, all the minor orders, and the diaconate, at Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake.

Msgr. Zamorski was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 1972. He served at St. Mary of Ostrabrama Parish, South River; Sacred Heart Parish, Manville, and on the faculty of Orchard Lake Schools in Michigan. His service as pastor at St. Stephen Parish, Perth Amboy, and Our Lady of Peace Parish, Fords, was followed by his appointment as Rector of the Cathedral in 2009. He entered into retirement at the Maria Regina Residence for retired priests, Somerset, in 2021.

During his decades of active ministry, Monsignor served in various diocesan roles and on many committees, including Episcopal Vicar, Vicar Forane, College of Consultors, Presbyteral Council, Seminary Education Board, and Commission for the Continuing Education of Priests. In 2005, he was installed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC upon nomination by Bishop Emeritus Paul G. Bootkoski.

Father Dawid J. Wejnerowski served as homilist at Msgr.’s Mass of Commendation. Now pastor of St. Mary Parish, Alpha, the Polish priest had served as a parochial vicar at the Cathedral under Msgr. Zamorski’s leadership. He admitted to being nervous as he delivered the homily, “because Monsignor made me promise not to use notes,” he stated.

“I admired how he handled pain, for it is a great sign of being a good and faithful imitator of Christ,” Father Wejnerowski said of his mentor. “He urged me to apply for [the pastorate of] St. Mary’s and advised me, ‘Love your people. That is the very purpose for being a priest.’”

Bidding Msgr. Zamorski a fond farewell, the congregation chuckled when they heard an echo of the elder priest’s legendary sense of humor: “I hope you are already enjoying eternity in heaven,” said Father Wejnerowski. “Like he used to tell me when I left to have a day off, ‘Don’t get arrested because it would be very inconvenient for me.’”

Father Edmund Shallow, Episcopal Vicar for Middlesex County North and pastor of Divine Mercy Parish, Carteret, delivered the homily at the funeral Mass, speaking in English and Latin and addressing the Monsignor’s family in the Polish language.

Noting that Msgr. Zamorski had served the people of the Diocese of Metuchen “with great care and great pastoral concern,” Father Shallow revealed that the Monsignor had been diagnosed with the incurable neurodegenerative disease ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, on May 16.

“This became the mantra that would carry him: ’We can be angry, we can be sad, we can be grateful,’” the homilist said. “He chose to be grateful, to thank the Lord for whatever blessings he had already received and those the Lord would choose to still give to him.

“I think we should choose to be grateful,” Father Shallow continued, for the late priest’s witness of faith, pastoral concern, spiritual care, and the grace that flowed to souls from his preaching. “It drew him closer to his crucified master,” he concluded. “On Oct. 28, his journey as a disciple came to an end; the Cross he carried was finally laid down.”

Just before the final commendation of Msgr. Zamorski’s earthly remains, Bishop Checchio glanced down at the casket and shared details of his final visit with the priest.

“I saw him in the nursing home last Friday night for anointing and he asked for an apostolic pardon,” the Bishop said. “I thanked him for being the priest he was. He gave himself to the Lord 51 years ago, laid down his life on the Cathedral floor and never took it back. He offered his suffering for those he loved, the priests of the Diocese and vocations. I am sure it will bear fruit.”

Msgr. Zamorski was predeceased by his parents, Walter D. and Helen E. Zamorski; his brother Walter E. Zamorski and his wife Irma; and his brother-in-law, Charles C. Tomaro, Jr. Surviving are his sisters, Rita Joan Tomaro of Myrtle Beach, SC and Ruth A. Manieri and her husband William of Summerfield, FL; his “sister of the heart,” Sister Rebecca Piatek, Felician Sister of Edison; his nieces, Donna Marie Tomaro of Myrtle Beach, SC and Ruthann Gerula and her husband Paul of Myrtle Beach, SC; and many great and great-great nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the ALS Association of Greater New York at 42 Broadway, Suite 1724, New York, NY, 10004.

Arrangements were handled by Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, Metuchen. Burial was in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Parlin.