Father Michael Gabriel Chubirko

CHUBIRKO, Fr. Michael, a Salesian Priest in the Catholic Religious Order of Saint John Bosco, went home to the Lord on Monday, March 5, 2018. Fr. Michael was a native of Pennsylvania. He spent most of his religious life serving in Byzantine Catholic Churches in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Fr. Michael was born on November 10, 1923 to Olga Suson and Mike Chibircha. He was baptized on November 21, 1923 at St. Mary’s Greek Catholic Church in Bradenville, PA. In 1948, he began his life as a Salesian of Don Bosco at Don Bosco College in Newton, NJ. After the completion of the novitiate year he made his first profession on September 8, 1950. He studied theology in Rome and was ordained a priest on March 25, 1960. Fr. Mike was a math teacher, a catechist and a spiritual guide for young people at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, NJ, Salesian High School in New Rochelle, NY and Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ. His longest assignment was at Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Elizabeth, NJ from 1981 to 1994. Fr. Michael came to Tampa, FL to live at St. Philip Residence at Mary Help of Christians Center in 2009. He was a confessor for retreatants and a strong advocate for Cristo Rey Tampa High School at Mary Help of Christians. Funeral services will be held at Mary Help of Christians Parish in Tampa, Florida. Visiting hours are 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, March 8. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Friday, March 9 at 10:00 am. Both the wake and funeral mass will be held at Mary Help of Christians Church (6400 East Chelsea Street, Tampa FL 33610). There will also be a second funeral mass at the Salesians’ retreat house in New York next week.