St. Josaphat gala to honor pastor Glastetter
The love the Rev. Michael J. Glastetter poured into the Basilica of St. Josaphat was reflected in its signature annual fundraising event.
And as the congregation struggles to come to grips with the unexpected death of the young pastor, it stands determined to continue Glastetter’s commitment to preserve the historic Catholic church on Milwaukee’s south side.
“He was very much a hands-on person when it came to the basilica. That was his passion,” said Colleen Cheney-Trawinski, executive director of the St. Josaphat Basilica Foundation.
“It was so important to him from a historical point of view.”
Funeral services will be held Sunday for Glastetter, rector-pastor of the Basilica of St. Josaphat, who died Sept. 30 from complications of appendicitis at age 47.
Glastetter died just weeks before the St. Josaphat Loaves & Fishes Gala Oct. 13.
His work with the foundation included organizing and planning the event, which this year will be held at the Historic Pritzlaff Building.
“It was with great pride that people working together helped restore the basilica about 22 years ago,” CheneyTrawinski said. “And it was a source of pride for him to continue that work.”
Born in 1970 in Peoria, Illinois, Glastetter served as pastor at St. Josaphat since August 2010.
He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame and his master of divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
He professed his Solemn Vows as a Conventual Franciscan in 1998, was ordained at St. Josaphat in 1999 and ministered as a parochial vicar at St. Josaphat until 2005.
He then served as the pastor at his home parish, Holy Family Catholic Church in Peoria, from 2005 to 2010.
“Michael was one of those kids who was always around the rectory,” Bishop William Patrick Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse recalled.
Callahan, who was an associate pastor at Holy Family when Glastetter was in grade school, recalled the energy Glastetter’s parent’s devoted to the parish’s annual festival and how he and his brother Dennis were always there to help.
“Michael was like a third assistant for us,” Callahan said, recalling the devotion to his faith that Glastetter displayed in his youth.
“With his temperament, his demeanor and his sense of honest devotion to Jesus there was no doubt in my mind that he understood his personal relationship with Jesus,” Callahan said. “That blossomed into service to the church.”
Callahan was rector-pastor of St. Josaphat when Glastetter was ordained there, began serving as parochial vicar and joined in the ongoing efforts to preserve the basilica.
“If you wanted to know anything about the basilica you asked Father Michael,” Cheney-Trawinski said, adding that his death is a huge loss for the St. Josaphat community.
“We don’t even have time to process it,” she said. “But we will all just keep moving forward with the gala, as a way to honor him.”