October 2, 1943
Father Joseph A. Kovalski
Father Kovalski was born on March 1, 1910 in Greenfield, MA. He did his seminary studies at St. Peter’s Seminary, London, Ontario, Canada and Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis, MO and was ordained for the Diocese of Wichita on May 30, 1942 in Louisville, KY. During his first year as a priest he was assigned to St. Theresa’s Parish in Hutchinson and also as chaplain at the air base. The following year he was assigned to Dubuque as pastor. On September 26, 1943 he became ill following his Sunday Masses and was taken to St. Rose Hospital in Great Bend where he died four days later of pneumonia. He was only thirty-three years old and had been a priest less than two years. Bishop Winkelmann celebrated the Pontifical Mass of Requiem for Father Kovalski at St. Theresa’s Church in Hutchinson and burial was in his hometown of Greenfield, MA.