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father vincent meskenas dies Feb. 27 in California

Father Vincent A. Meskenas, 86, died Feb. 27 at his residence in Marysville, Calif.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marysville, Calif. on March 5. Interment was in St. Casmir Catholic Cemetery, Chicago, Ill.

Father Meskenas was born in Chicago Sept. 24, 1923 to Adam and Prakseda Jurati Meskenas. He studied at Quigley Seminary in Chicago and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis.

He was ordained a priest May 4, 1949 by Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste.

Over the years he ministered as an associate pastor at St. Patrick’s in East St. Louis; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Herrin; St. Henry’s in East St. Louis; and SS. Peter and Paul in Waterloo.

Before joining the U.S. Air Force Chaplains’ Corp in 1956, Father Meskenas was a temporary assistant at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville and Scott Air Force Base chapel. After joining the Air Force he was commissioned a lieutenant.

Father Meskenas served at U.S. bases in Texas, Louisiana, New York, Wisconsin, California and Alaska. He was stationed overseas in Thailand, Japan, England and Scotland.

He retired as an Air Force major in 1976 and for the next two years studied at the Jesuit School of Applied Theology in Calif. He returned to the Belleville diocese and was appointed administrator at St. Ann’s in Nashville.
In 1981 he was granted a leave of absence and retired in 1993 in California.

He was preceded in death by his parents and four siblings.

Survivors include his niece Phyllis Gallagher of Crown Point, Ind.; and a nephew Dennis (Linda) Dauter of Ottawa, Ill.; great nieces and nephews; and numerous friends and loved ones. (No photo available.)