Comments on: Remembering Fr. William Petrunak

By: Sandra Spalla

Sandra Spalla — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:16:58 +0000

Sr. Mary,
I thank you as well for such a wonderful tribute to “Truke”. I don’t express well but wanted to share. My former parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary is where Fr. Bill performed my marriage twenty years ago. He had this “contagious wonderfulness” wherever he ministered. We looked forward to our Christmas/Birthday correspondence and always enjoyed parish visits with him. Fr. Bill never forgot a name and kept patience in always making you feel special. I’m fighting back the sting of tears, as our time with him was too short. “Truke” deserves all the blessings of heaven. He is sadly missed.

By: Mary Ann Crtiell

Mary Ann Crtiell — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:14:29 +0000

Mary, what a wonderful tribute you wrote about a great, great man and priest. Oh, the memories…and how he cared for us in novitiate. He encouraged, prayed and loved us during those formation years and following. He ALWAYS made my heart smile…I had such sadness when he died. I KNOW so many people are who they are today…because he took the time to “simply care.” May we all be a little like “Truke”/Fr. Petrunak. Thanks for expressing so much of what I too felt.

By: RaiTwann Gaston

RaiTwann Gaston — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:41:26 +0000

Father was a great man and he meant so much to me, as well as the family of John F. Kennedy High School. I knew him as a teacher,priest, as well a inspirational man. He served as my religion teacher and he told us about the bible and much more. The thing that i loved the best is his advice. He was a very cool teacher who was “down to earth” and knew teeangers very well. He will be dearly missed.

By: Sr. Mary Mc

Sr. Mary Mc — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:58:20 +0000

Thanks for your memories of Fr. Bill, Barb. I know what you mean. He treated every person as a friend. I know he is praying for all of us now from heaven.

By: Barb Woolley

Barb Woolley — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:04:03 +0000

I am not a lifetime member of Holy Trinity, I have belonged to other parishes, but when I heard Father Bill, I knew I was home. He was more than just a priest, he was a friend, easily approachable, someone you could always count on. We have a small parish and he would comment if we sat somewhere different or came to a different mass, because he was so accustomed to see us in a certain place. That is one of the best parts of being in a small parish, he knows when you aren’t there and would be genuinely concerned about you. Never did it sound like he was lecturing you, it always felt like you were visiting a friend. When he also paired our Parish with Sister Theresa Wilson, our CCD classes could compare to no other….When we had meetings throughout the years for different things myself and others would ask questions and talk about whatever was on our minds….they were always the same, are you ok, is your family ok, do you need anything…..you knew they were praying for you and those prayers were going straight to heaven. As a Parish we knew he was ill, but were praying that he would return to us. We are all aware of his dedication to us and heaviest on his mind was the decision that is going to be made soon about our Parish. He was more than a priest, he was a friend.