Jan Zapolski, who served Masses for the future Pope John Paul II, dies at 73.
Jan Zapolski, who served as an altar boy at Masses celebrated by Cardinal Karol Wojtyła before he became Pope John Paul II, died Oct. 24, surrounded by his family. He was 73.
Zapolski was born in Rajsko, Poland, and grew up in Auschwitz. During the 1966 celebrations of the Millennium of the Baptism of Poland, he served at 1,000 Masses that year and was designated a “Millennium Altar Boy.” Wojtyła confirmed him at Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków.
As a young man, he made bicycle pilgrimages to Marian shrines across Poland with fellow altar boys and Salesian priests. He held a lifelong devotion to Jasna Góra in Częstochowa and the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa kept there.
He earned a master’s degree in the economics of production from the Academy of Economics in Kraków, where he met his wife, Jadwiga. During his university years and after, he was active in the Solidarity movement and worked closely with miners at the coal mine in Libiąż.
In the United States, he fished, followed current events and enjoyed Polish music and historical films. He liked watching the eagles that flew near his granddaughter’s home.
His family includes his wife; his children, Justyna, Maria and Konrad; his granddaughter, Ella Lily; and his son-in-law, Zach.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Zofia and Kazimierz, and his older brother, Kazimierz.
Visitation is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home & Crematorium, 7861 S. 88th Ave., Justice. Prayers are scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the funeral home, followed by a procession to Our Lady Mother of the Church Polish Mission, 116 Hilton St., Willow Springs, for a 10 a.m. Mass. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice.