Father James Czerwinski passed away Jan. 2, 2015, at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, Mass., at 67 years old.
Father Czerwinski was born Nov. 26, 1947, in Buffalo, to Walter J. and Elizabeth (Swaitkowski) Czerwinski.

He joined the Franciscan Friars in 1971, studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and received a master of divinity degree from Washington Theological Union before his 1977 ordination.

In 1979, he went on to teach religion at Bishop Timon High School in Buffalo, where he was a campus minister, senior class moderator, and guardian and vicar of the community of friars.

In 1993, he went to Assumption Parish in Wood-Ridge, N.J. He became director of St. Francis Chapel in Albany in 2002.

In 2005, he became pastor of SS. Rita and Patrick Parish in Buffalo, which merged into St. Clare Parish in 2007. In 2009, he was assigned as parochial vicar of St. Anthony Friary in Butler, N.J., and later served at St. Anthony Shrine in Massachusetts.

Father Czerwinski is survived by a brother, Thomas, of Buffalo.

A Mass was held at St. Anthony Shrine, with burial in St. Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, Mass.