Paul Joseph Ilecki, 63, died June 9, 2014, in hospice from complications of a cardiac arrhythmia.
He was born June 19, 1950, in Buffalo, N.Y., to Florian and Helen Ilecki.
He lived in Buffalo until finishing his bachelor’s degree in music education at the State University of New York campus in Fredonia in 1971.
In 1973 he moved to Washington, DC, to study for the priesthood with the Paulist Fathers. He received a master’s degree in theology in 1976 at the Catholic University of America, and was ordained a Catholic priest by Cardinal Terrence Cook, the Archbishop of New York, on May 14, 1977.
He also completed a master’s degree in music performance on oboe. After ordination he moved to New York, where he was assigned to Saint Paul the Apostle Church at Lincoln Center, where he worked with the poor.
He was also a freelance musician, conducted a world premier symphony by Richard Danielpour and was the music director of The Paulist Choristers at St. Paul the Apostle Church.
He helped support himself as an accomplished spinner and weaver and taught as an adjunct professor of theology at Marymount Manhattan College.
Mr. Ilecki entered St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass in 1987 and lived as a monk until 1991, continuing his search for God.
Friends and family said this time helped focus his life passion to discover, live from and teach about the unlimited human potential for growth and spiritual development that touched the lives of many.
As a friend remembered, “everything he did turned into beauty.”
From 1991 to 1999, he lived in Raleigh, N.C., where he began a relationship with his partner, Doug Robert, which remained a foundation for him until his death.
During that time, he was assistant dean for academic and student affairs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he obtained a doctorate in adult education.
He was also an adjunct professor at the Divinity School at Duke University.
In 1999, Mr. Ilecki moved to the Salida and Buena Vista area, where he made his final home.
He came to know many in the valley as owner and manager of Bongo Billy’s and Salida Café, which he said he developed to “create a space where food for the soul was offered along with that for the body and where genuine community might be fostered.”
In recent years he continued his lifelong work of teaching methods for personal reflection, focused contemplative practices and meditation through restorative retreats.
He is the creator of the “Just Noticing” work, offered through his corporation, Colorado Notes.
He was preceded in death by his father; sister, Genia Kadile; and nephew Kristian Eleazar Kadile.
Survivors include his partner; his mother; his brother, Tom; brother-in-law, Eleazar; nephews and nieces, Michael, Ann, Jude, Michael and Kate; and many friends.
His Mass and burial service will be at 11 a.m. June 21, 2014, in Kellnersville, Wis.
A memorial service will be held in Salida from 1 to 2:30 p.m. June 29, 2014, at Salida SteamPlant, 220 W. Sackett Ave. -- The Mountain Mail, June 16, 2014.
He was born June 19, 1950, in Buffalo, N.Y., to Florian and Helen Ilecki.
He lived in Buffalo until finishing his bachelor’s degree in music education at the State University of New York campus in Fredonia in 1971.
In 1973 he moved to Washington, DC, to study for the priesthood with the Paulist Fathers. He received a master’s degree in theology in 1976 at the Catholic University of America, and was ordained a Catholic priest by Cardinal Terrence Cook, the Archbishop of New York, on May 14, 1977.
He also completed a master’s degree in music performance on oboe. After ordination he moved to New York, where he was assigned to Saint Paul the Apostle Church at Lincoln Center, where he worked with the poor.
He was also a freelance musician, conducted a world premier symphony by Richard Danielpour and was the music director of The Paulist Choristers at St. Paul the Apostle Church.
He helped support himself as an accomplished spinner and weaver and taught as an adjunct professor of theology at Marymount Manhattan College.
Mr. Ilecki entered St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass in 1987 and lived as a monk until 1991, continuing his search for God.
Friends and family said this time helped focus his life passion to discover, live from and teach about the unlimited human potential for growth and spiritual development that touched the lives of many.
As a friend remembered, “everything he did turned into beauty.”
From 1991 to 1999, he lived in Raleigh, N.C., where he began a relationship with his partner, Doug Robert, which remained a foundation for him until his death.
During that time, he was assistant dean for academic and student affairs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he obtained a doctorate in adult education.
He was also an adjunct professor at the Divinity School at Duke University.
In 1999, Mr. Ilecki moved to the Salida and Buena Vista area, where he made his final home.
He came to know many in the valley as owner and manager of Bongo Billy’s and Salida Café, which he said he developed to “create a space where food for the soul was offered along with that for the body and where genuine community might be fostered.”
In recent years he continued his lifelong work of teaching methods for personal reflection, focused contemplative practices and meditation through restorative retreats.
He is the creator of the “Just Noticing” work, offered through his corporation, Colorado Notes.
He was preceded in death by his father; sister, Genia Kadile; and nephew Kristian Eleazar Kadile.
Survivors include his partner; his mother; his brother, Tom; brother-in-law, Eleazar; nephews and nieces, Michael, Ann, Jude, Michael and Kate; and many friends.
His Mass and burial service will be at 11 a.m. June 21, 2014, in Kellnersville, Wis.
A memorial service will be held in Salida from 1 to 2:30 p.m. June 29, 2014, at Salida SteamPlant, 220 W. Sackett Ave. -- The Mountain Mail, June 16, 2014.
Paul Joseph Ilecki, 63, died June 9, 2014, in hospice from complications of a cardiac arrhythmia.
He was born June 19, 1950, in Buffalo, N.Y., to Florian and Helen Ilecki.
He lived in Buffalo until finishing his bachelor’s degree in music education at the State University of New York campus in Fredonia in 1971.
In 1973 he moved to Washington, DC, to study for the priesthood with the Paulist Fathers. He received a master’s degree in theology in 1976 at the Catholic University of America, and was ordained a Catholic priest by Cardinal Terrence Cook, the Archbishop of New York, on May 14, 1977.
He also completed a master’s degree in music performance on oboe. After ordination he moved to New York, where he was assigned to Saint Paul the Apostle Church at Lincoln Center, where he worked with the poor.
He was also a freelance musician, conducted a world premier symphony by Richard Danielpour and was the music director of The Paulist Choristers at St. Paul the Apostle Church.
He helped support himself as an accomplished spinner and weaver and taught as an adjunct professor of theology at Marymount Manhattan College.
Mr. Ilecki entered St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass in 1987 and lived as a monk until 1991, continuing his search for God.
Friends and family said this time helped focus his life passion to discover, live from and teach about the unlimited human potential for growth and spiritual development that touched the lives of many.
As a friend remembered, “everything he did turned into beauty.”
From 1991 to 1999, he lived in Raleigh, N.C., where he began a relationship with his partner, Doug Robert, which remained a foundation for him until his death.
During that time, he was assistant dean for academic and student affairs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he obtained a doctorate in adult education.
He was also an adjunct professor at the Divinity School at Duke University.
In 1999, Mr. Ilecki moved to the Salida and Buena Vista area, where he made his final home.
He came to know many in the valley as owner and manager of Bongo Billy’s and Salida Café, which he said he developed to “create a space where food for the soul was offered along with that for the body and where genuine community might be fostered.”
In recent years he continued his lifelong work of teaching methods for personal reflection, focused contemplative practices and meditation through restorative retreats.
He is the creator of the “Just Noticing” work, offered through his corporation, Colorado Notes.
He was preceded in death by his father; sister, Genia Kadile; and nephew Kristian Eleazar Kadile.
Survivors include his partner; his mother; his brother, Tom; brother-in-law, Eleazar; nephews and nieces, Michael, Ann, Jude, Michael and Kate; and many friends.
His Mass and burial service will be at 11 a.m. June 21, 2014, in Kellnersville, Wis.
A memorial service will be held in Salida from 1 to 2:30 p.m. June 29, 2014, at Salida SteamPlant, 220 W. Sackett Ave. -- The Mountain Mail, June 16, 2014.
He was born June 19, 1950, in Buffalo, N.Y., to Florian and Helen Ilecki.
He lived in Buffalo until finishing his bachelor’s degree in music education at the State University of New York campus in Fredonia in 1971.
In 1973 he moved to Washington, DC, to study for the priesthood with the Paulist Fathers. He received a master’s degree in theology in 1976 at the Catholic University of America, and was ordained a Catholic priest by Cardinal Terrence Cook, the Archbishop of New York, on May 14, 1977.
He also completed a master’s degree in music performance on oboe. After ordination he moved to New York, where he was assigned to Saint Paul the Apostle Church at Lincoln Center, where he worked with the poor.
He was also a freelance musician, conducted a world premier symphony by Richard Danielpour and was the music director of The Paulist Choristers at St. Paul the Apostle Church.
He helped support himself as an accomplished spinner and weaver and taught as an adjunct professor of theology at Marymount Manhattan College.
Mr. Ilecki entered St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass in 1987 and lived as a monk until 1991, continuing his search for God.
Friends and family said this time helped focus his life passion to discover, live from and teach about the unlimited human potential for growth and spiritual development that touched the lives of many.
As a friend remembered, “everything he did turned into beauty.”
From 1991 to 1999, he lived in Raleigh, N.C., where he began a relationship with his partner, Doug Robert, which remained a foundation for him until his death.
During that time, he was assistant dean for academic and student affairs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he obtained a doctorate in adult education.
He was also an adjunct professor at the Divinity School at Duke University.
In 1999, Mr. Ilecki moved to the Salida and Buena Vista area, where he made his final home.
He came to know many in the valley as owner and manager of Bongo Billy’s and Salida Café, which he said he developed to “create a space where food for the soul was offered along with that for the body and where genuine community might be fostered.”
In recent years he continued his lifelong work of teaching methods for personal reflection, focused contemplative practices and meditation through restorative retreats.
He is the creator of the “Just Noticing” work, offered through his corporation, Colorado Notes.
He was preceded in death by his father; sister, Genia Kadile; and nephew Kristian Eleazar Kadile.
Survivors include his partner; his mother; his brother, Tom; brother-in-law, Eleazar; nephews and nieces, Michael, Ann, Jude, Michael and Kate; and many friends.
His Mass and burial service will be at 11 a.m. June 21, 2014, in Kellnersville, Wis.
A memorial service will be held in Salida from 1 to 2:30 p.m. June 29, 2014, at Salida SteamPlant, 220 W. Sackett Ave. -- The Mountain Mail, June 16, 2014.
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