RICAN ME CO A N H G IS R L E S O S P IL L N IN IO 1944 O IS D IV IS 2019 The Polish American Congress Illinois Division HERITAGE AWARD BANQUET PROGRAM Cocktail Reception | Open Bar & Hors D’oeuvres Welcome & Introduction Michael Niedzinski President Polish American Congress Illinois Division Mistress of Ceremonies Honorable Aurelia Pucinski Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court Presentation of Colors Ułani Polish Cavalry Polish and American National Anthems Mirosława Sojka Topór Music Anthony Kawalkowski Remarks Frank J. Spula President Polish American Congress Consul General Piotr Janicki Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago Artistic Program Polonia Song & Dance Ensemble of PRCUA Director | Walter Bochenek Choreographer | Jaclyn Krysinski Presentation of Awards Michael Niedzinski & Bozenna Haszlakiewicz Heritage Award Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki Civic Award Richard Owsiany Community Service Award Lucie Bucki Historian Award Dominic A. Pacyga Ph.D. Artistic Award Ewa Milde & Bogdan Lanko Media Award Jacek Niemczyk Public Service Award Tom Startek Public Service Award Martin Obrecki, President’s Award Maria Roszek-Kucharski Polish American Foundation Scholarship | Anna Wierzbicki | President Toast | Mary Anselmo | Vice President Polish American Congress Invocation Rev. Richard Milek | St. Constance Parish Pastor Dinner | Smacznego | Bon Appetit Polonez | Polonia Song & Dance Ensemble of PRCUA | Choreographer Jaclyn Krysinski Dancing & Open Bar | Anthony Kawalkowski 3 RICAN ME CO A N H G IS R L E S O S P IL L N IN IO 1944 O IS D IV IS 2019 The Polish American Congress Illinois Division HERITAGE AWARD BISHOP THOMAS JOHN PAPROCKI Bishop Thomas Paprocki was born on August 5, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois to a family of six brothers and two sisters. He graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in 1970 and obtained his Bachelor of Arts from Niles College in 1974. From 1974 to 1979, he studied at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Sacred Theology (1976), Master’s in Divinity (1978), and Licentiate in Sacred Theology (1979). Bishop Thomas Paprocki was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1978. After ordination, he studied law at DePaul University College of Law and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1981. He worked as a parish priest at St. Michael Church in South Chicago, a neighborhood with high unemployment due to the shutdowns of local steel mills. Fr. Paprocki was the co founder of the South Chicago Legal Clinic to help answer a need for legal services for the poor. In 2014 Bishop Paprocki was named President Emeritus and Of Counsel of the organization, presently the Chicago Legal Clinic. In November, 1985, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin appointed Fr. Paprocki Vice Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago and in 1987 sent him to do post graduate studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He completed his doctoral degree in 1991. Fr. Paprocki then returned to his previous position in Chicago as Vice Chancellor and was appoint- ed Chancellor in March, 1992, serving in that capacity under Cardinal Bernardin and then under Cardinal Francis George, following Cardinal Bernardin’s death in 1996. Concluding his service as Chancellor after two terms in office in June, 2000, Fr. Paprocki studied Polish language and culture at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. In January 2001, he was appointed Pastor of St. Constance Parish, serving primarily a large immigrant community from Poland on the northwest side of Chicago. Pope John Paul II appointed him to serve as Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago on January 24, 2003. Cardinal George named him Liaison for Health and Hospital Af- fairs in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bishop Paprocki serves as Vice-President of the Illinois Catholic Health Association. He is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, the Committee on Budget and Finance, and the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. He formerly served on the USCCB Administrative Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. In addition to English, he speaks Polish, Spanish and Italian, and he reads Latin. On June 22, 2010, Bishop Paprocki was installed the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. In May 2013 he received his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree from the University of Notre Dame. He taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law from 1999 to 2015. He joined the Adjunct Faculty of Notre Dame Law School in 2016. Bishop Paprocki’s hobbies are reading, running and playing hockey. A lifelong fan of hockey and the Blackhawks - he is sometimes referred to in the media as the “Holy Goalie”. He has run twenty-three marathons: Chicago (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005), Columbus, Ohio (1998), Boston (1998), Rome (2000) Athens (2000), Washington, D.C. (2004 & 2007), Dayton, Ohio (2006), Dublin, Ireland (2008), Minneapolis-St. Paul (2009), Denver (2010), Kansas City (2011), St. Louis (2012), Springfield (2013 and 2015), Philadelphia (2016) and Indianapolis (2017), in the process rais- ing $492,131.64 for charity. He has made the connection between sports and faith a focus of his ministry. In this regard, he serves as the Chairman of the Episcopal Advisory Board of Catholic Athletes for Christ. His book, Holy Goals for Body and Soul: Eight Steps to Connect Sports with God and Faith, was published by Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Indiana), in 2013. 23 RICAN ME CO A N H G IS R L E S O S P IL L N IN IO 1944 O IS D IV IS 2019 The Polish American Congress Illinois Division CIVIC AWARD RICHARD OWSIANY Richard Owsiany was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, son of Gabriel, a soldier of the Polish 1st Armored Division, and Krystyna Owsiany. After graduating from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Science in Management and attending the Keller Graduate School of Management, Mr. Owsiany worked for Ald. Roman Pucinski as Chief Legislative Analyst for the Chicago City Council. Following that, for many years, Richard was the Director of the Grievance Center for the Service Employees International Union. Currently he works for the Chicago Transit Authority and is responsible for union labor relations. Richard has been active in Polonia since childhood. He graduated from the Ignacy Paderewski Polish Language School and was involved in the Polish Boy Scouts - Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego. As a youth and young adult he assumed each leadership roles along the way, leading scout troops and cub scouts. As an adult he was treasurer of the Chicago Council and a board member of the Chicago, National and International Board of Directors of ZHP. Richard continues to be involved with local Polish youth and maintains the Archival Collection for the Council. He has also been involved with Polish Folk Dancing; first as a dancer (with the Lechici Dancers), and later as choreographer for many Polish Folk events and festivals. Currently he is the choreographer of the White and Red Ball (Bal Amarantowy). Today, Richard is President of the Polish Museum of America (elected in October 2014), having been Vice Presi- dent from 2008 thru 2014. He is a member of the Polish National Alliance, Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, Polonus Philatelic Society and the Society of Saint Adalbert committee to save and preserve Chicago Polonia’s third oldest church. Richard has also been involved in the ongoing revitalization of the Polish Triangle at Milwaukee, Division and Ashland. Richard founded and was president of the DePaul University Polish Club and PULL Together, an alliance of Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian and Lithuanian student organizations. At the same time he was president of the Chi- cago Intercollegiate Council. Over the years he was involved with several Polish organizations; Polish American Congress IL Division, Polish American Foundation, and Copernicus Foundation. Richard received many awards and recognitions for his contributions to society. Among the most significant are: Outstanding Young Man of America Award (1985); The Silver Cross of Merit – Srebrny Krzyż Zasługi by the Polish Government in Exile (1989); City of Chicago Community Recognition Award (2011); the Gold Cross of Merit -Złoty Krzyż Oficerski Orderu Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej by the Republic of Poland (2019). He is the father of Christopher and Alexander and resides on the northwest side of Chicago. 24 RICAN ME CO A N H G IS R L E S O S P IL L N IN IO 1944 O IS D IV IS 2019 The Polish American Congress Illinois Division COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD LUCIE BUCKI Lucie Bucki is a product of her life's experiences. She is a child of WWII, a time that profoundly and forever changed her biological family's make up. With her adoptive parents, she spent some time in a post war Dis- placed Persons (DP) camp in Germany, then after coming to Chicago she began the new experience of being an immigrant child in a strange land. She claims that her life's values were greatly influenced by the Polish order of nuns the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, in service to the Polish immigrant community since the mid-19th century. At the time of Lucie's school years, they were teaching both at St Hedwig’s parish grammar school and at Holy Family Academy (a high school for girls). Lucie also became a Diploma Program Registered Nurse graduate of St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital School of Nursing and then earned her BS from St Francis University in Joliet. As a teen she was a harcerka in the Polish Scouting Organization (PSO). This experience reinforced her values of service to God, Country and fellowmen, the basics of scouting principles.