Claremont
Majka, who was born in Germany after the Nazis sent his parents to a work camp from their native Poland, participated heartily in the annual Polish heritage activities at the church every October. Parishioner Sharon Wood, an organizer of the celebration, said Majka even brushed up on the accordion — an instrument he hadn’t touched in years — so he could play at last year’s festivities.
“He did a little practicing and played at several events,” Wood said. “He also initiated a sing-along. He enjoyed music and sang well and really enjoyed celebrating his Polish heritage.”
Majka dressed in traditional Polish folk costume to greet diners at The Old Courthouse restaurant in Newport when it hosted a Polish menu week during Polish heritage month.
He “quickly became a favorite with the staff and diners,” Wood said.
Majka, 71, died Sept. 11 while swimming but the exact cause of death has not been determined, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
“They are pretty sure it was drowning but there is a high probability he had a heart attack,” the woman said, noting that Majka had a heart condition.
Services for Majka have not been arranged as the diocese continues to work with a funeral home in the Dominican Republic to bring him home, the Rev. Shawn Therrien, pastor of St. Mary’s in Claremont, said this week.
Therrien said he is working to ensure continuity of the Mass schedule at St. Joseph’s by reaching out to priests who might be able to fill in.
Therrien said there may be some changes in the schedules in case he is called upon to celebrate Mass at both parishes, which have similar Sunday times.
Majka, who was ordained in 1971, had been pastor of St. Joseph’s since 2009.
According to Therrien, Majka’s father died at the work camp toward the end of World War II and a couple of years later he and his mother emigrated to the United States.
Arline Marro, the organist at St. Joseph’s, said Majka, who had no immediate family, considered “parishioners his family,” visiting them and others at nursing homes where he would celebrate Mass.
Majka loved to garden and grew vegetables on a small plot behind the rectory, often giving away produce to parishioners, she said.
She, like Wood, recalled a Majka as a “gentleman” with a jovial side who loved to sing.
Therrien said he had known Majka for 30 years and considered him a close friend.
“I am really going to miss him,” he said.
Claremont has been able to maintain two Catholic parishes despite dwindling church attendance and a shortage of priests.
St. Joseph’s was started by Polish immigrants in 1922, and the church was opened three years later.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
Correction
The Rev. George Majka was born in Germany after the Nazis sent his parents to a work camp from their native Poland. A photo caption in an earlier version of this story named an incorrect birthplace.
