Father Henry Marusa of Orange Diocese Dies

Father Henry M. Marusa, the oldest active priest in the Diocese of Orange, has died of a heart attack at the age of 90.

Although he had been semi-retired for 15 years, Marusa taught Greek and Latin at St. Michael’s Abbey in Trabuco Canyon for 25 years.

“He died with his boots on,” said John A. Prescott, a personal friend of Marusa and chairman of the board at the Saddleback Chapel. “He was always on the go, albeit he was retired. He was a man who was selfless in his dedication to the priesthood.”

Marusa’s service included ministering at a mission, a women’s prison and in the Army during World War II. He landed with the troops on Normandy Beach on D-Day.

Marusa, who died Saturday, was born Nov. 11, 1906, in Cleveland to Slovak immigrant parents.

He joined the Society of the Divine Word, a Catholic missionary society, in 1920 and graduated from the society’s seminary at Techy, Ill., in 1933 when he was ordained.

A student of theology and philosophy, Marusa was fluent in Greek, Latin and Slovak and played the violin.

When World War II began, Marusa became an Army chaplain. He then served at the Afro-American Mission in Waco, Texas, and later as chaplain for the California Women’s Prison in Tehachapi. After his stay at the women’s prison--an assignment he described to friends as the most rewarding of his life--Marusa moved to Rancho Los Amigos, Los Angeles County’s home for the aged and needy. But after 11 years as the chaplain there, Marusa relocated to Orange County in 1972 and began his service with St. Michael’s Abbey.

Marusa is survived by two sisters, Mary Posedly of Tucson and Helene Dayton of Port Charlotte, Fla.

Visitation will be at Saddleback Chapel, 220 E. Main St., Tustin, at 9 a.m. Friday, with vigil and rosary later that day at 7:30 p.m. Funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mission San Juan Capistrano Church. Internment will follow at Crestlawn Memorial Park in Riverside.

The family requests memorial contributions be made to the SVD Western Provence, P.O. Box 77-F, Los Angeles, CA 90007.