Obituaries

Hundreds Mourn 'Saint' Who Fed The Poor

Funeral is held for 'Uncle Pete' Zonsius, who spent decades bringing food to West Side shelters and soup kitchens, and collecting castoff furniture and clothes for the poor.

 

Though some of the speakers made humorous, fond remarks at the funeral Mass of Peter Zonsius, 90, at St. John Brebeuf Church Monday, the mourners in the nearly-filled pews still occasionally shed tears and reached for tissues.

for decades at the parish and in Niles. He had a zeal for rounding up food, clothing, baby supplies and other necessities from area residents, loading them into his minivan and driving them to the poor and homeless on Chicago's West Side, and even those living in cardboard boxes on lower Wacker Drive.

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Earlier:

His niece, Sister Judith Zonsius, O.S.B., gave a warm reflection, joking about how Uncle Pete had carefully planned out what he wanted at his funeral. 

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"This is how I would describe my--our--Uncle Pete--grateful, humble, blessed--that's the short form," she said.

"If Uncle Pete means as much to us as we say, then it is now our turn to continue the work he began."

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After the Mass, some of the many people who have helped Uncle Pete in his ministries offered their thoughts. Rev. Mike Salazzo was also kind enough to provide his warm, funny and moving homily.

Reflections

Jim Merkel: "I did the (parish) food drive with him for 30-some years. He was always about other people, never about himself. 

The last thing Uncle Pete said to me was 'Jimmy, we've got a lot of work to do yet.' That was two days before he died.

John Mueller: "We distributed the sack lunches (to the homeless) the day before he died. When I got back, he grilled me--'John, who'd you see? How many did you give out?'

When I was with him, even though we were in dangerous neighborhoods, I felt safe."

Maureen Polcyn: "I would drive down with him (to the West Side), and there was a guy sleeping on a bench. Uncle Pete, even with his oxygen tank (for respiratory reasons, Uncle Pete had an oxygen tank, which he affectionately dubbed 'little Pete'), yelled 'Yo!' at him until he woke up, then he wanted me to go give him a sack lunch. I said, 'you want me to leave you here in the van?' and he said, 'I'll be all right.'"

Jim Skaja: "Pete was a saint. He treated everybody like family. That's why they called him Uncle Pete.

He was like a collection agency for bottles, diapers, high chairs, clothes, furniture. If you had something, you'd give him a call. If he needed it (for a low-income family), he'd give you a call."

Bob Zalesny: "He taught people how to give. It was an honor and a privilege to know him. 

We used to tramp around with him going to soup kitchens, battered women's shelters, Marillac House, the YMCA, we'd take dinners there. We used to go to O'Hare and give (CTA train) tokens to the homeless, they'd ride the train down to the Electricians Hall and have a meal."

Anita Zoerink: "If people were going through a hard time, he would be there. He would bring what they needed."

Jim Merkel: "He'd help families in the parish--if the husband lost his job or something--he'd say go, drop off food or certificates, just leave, don't stay."

John Mueller: "When we were done distributing sack lunches, he'd touch my hand and say, 'we did God's work here.'"

Rev. Mike Salazzo, pastor of St. Tarcissus parish on Chicago's Northwest side:

I have known Uncle Pete for 36 years. I first met him when I was a newly ordained priest at St. John Brebeuf Parish. He was the maintenance engineer there. In those days we called them janitors.

My favorite story of him is about the first Christmas at St. John's. For a reason now I cannot remember, Pete and the pastor at the time had had a falling out over something, and Pete was the one who every year would go and get the rectory Christmas tree so we could decorate it and have a festive tree in the priests' house. That year because he was so mad at us, he refused to get the tree.

So I decided to go and get one since I did not want the rectory to be without a Christmas tree. So I went and picked one out and brought it home. Pete saw me struggling with the tree and decided to help me get it into the house. He took one look at the tree I had picked and fell on the ground laughing asking if I had intentionally picked out the worst tree on the lot. Thr tree had a trunk shaped like an S and we both wondered how in the world would we get this thing to stand up straight once inside the house.

Pete figured out a way, made it stand up straight and tall, we decorated it and it looked most festive for my first Christmas at St. John's. He then proceeded to tell me that I would never be in charge of selecting a Christmas tree for the rectory again!

It was at that moment that I knew he and I would be great friends. And we were til the day he died. Pete was always concerned about others. He was a man who not only loved his faith, but also lived his faith. He found a way to serve wherever there was a need.

In St. Matthew's Gospel we heard the story of the final judgement. In this story we are told that if we took care of the needs of others, the hungry, thirsty, poor, homeless, imprisoned people in the world, then we served our God. If we neglected them, we did not.

Pete embodied this story, this message. His life was one of great dedication and commitment to people in need. And he did that always in a spirit of great compassion and humility, never wanting any recognition for himself, always reminding people that it takes many hands to do the work.

Pete could never do enough for people. He had a particular love for children, especially those who were victims of abuse or neglect. He always made sure they had all that they needed.

I believe all of us at some time in our lives think about what it may be like for us at that last judgement when we stand before the throne of God. My fear is that I might be standing in line behind Uncle Pete and I would think to myself, O lord, I don't stand a chance!!

However, now having Uncle Pete up there, I will be standing there saying, "I'm with him."  When we find ourselves ever thinking about who God is and what does God look like, all we need to do is to think of Uncle Pete, and we will have our answer.  


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