Father Ed Fialkowski - Our Lady of the Wayside Church

At the conclusion of his MBA program, Father Ed’s classmates selected him to bethe student speaker and he delivered the class address.It shouldn’t be a surprise that a man who has been so studious would be observantand look at life and its surroundings intently. When asked where he likes to vacationand relax, for example, he said he likes Florida, but not because of the sun andwarmth as much as for the history and ecology. His fondness for Europe is for theart and history, rather than the cuisine. He likes Colorado, but not as much for theskiing as for the mountains and the history of the mountains.We Welcome Our New PastorFather Ed FialkowskiHe does like to ski, however, and he has skied on occasion with one of his priestfriends, Father Vince Costello, certainly known to Waysiders.Father Ed recalls his young years fondly – growing up a Cub fan (as a Northsider)and Bear fan – and participating in sports and other activities at St. Monica’s. Hefollowed the traditional path to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Chicago –Quigley Preparatory Seminary, then Niles College and finally St. Mary of the LakeSeminary in Mundelein.During his school years, he held a variety of summer and part-time jobs andremembers learning how to trim paint without the use of tape during one temporarycareer as a house painter. “That came in very handy when it was time to paint dormrooms,” he said. Summer and part-time jobs also gave him some training in boilermaintenance, carpentry and electricity, primarily while working at the Florsheim Shoefactory on Chicago’s North side. He doesn’t think he’ll need any of those skills in hisnew job, but it’s never bad to know more than you need, he added.While Our Lady of the Wayside is a large parish, it is not the largest Father Ed hasserved in. In fact, one of his earlier parishes, St. William in Chicago, had 4,000families and was the last parish in the Archdiocese to have four priests assigned to it.St. Theresa in Palatine was even bigger, with 5,300 families, and Father Ed wasassociate pastor there during the establishment of the new Holy Family Parish inInverness and the reassignment of families, a task that was not always easy andpleasant.He predicted that Wayside parishioners will see his St. Theresa relatives on occasion,as the family is close and spends time together. Although both of his parents aredeceased, his four sisters and one brother all live in the Chicago area and he spendsas much time with them and his nieces and nephews as he can. It’s likely that manyof them will join the Welcome Reception for Father Ed.Our Lady of the Wayside ParishApril 30, 2006

Rev. Edward R. Fialkowski29 Years of Service and Commitment1977 Deacon at St. Juliana in Chicago1978 One of 29 priests Ordained by Cardinal John Cody1978-84 Associate Pastor at St. William in Chicago1984 -89 Associate Pastor at St. Theresa in Palatine withduties at the Archdiocesan Seminary Board ofTrustees and part-time position on Priest PlacementBoard1989-94 Residence at St. Ita in Chicago with full-timeassignment as Executive Secretary of PriestPlacement Board1994 University of Notre Dame1995 Associate Pastor at St. Cletus in LaGrange whilestudying at Northwestern University’s KelloggBusiness School of Management1997 Awarded Master of Business Administration (MBA)degree from Northwestern1997-2005 Pastor, St. Isaac Jogues in Niles2005 Pastor, Our Lady of the Wayside in ArlingtonHeightsAn Introduction To Father Ed Fialkowski, Our New PastorOne thing Father Ed Fialkowski doesn’t need as the new pastor of Our Lady ofthe Wayside Parish is a map of the Arlington Heights area, or of the North andNorthwest sides and suburbs of Chicago.Nor does he need a directory of his fellow-priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago.Raised on the Northwest side of Chicago, not far from the Kennedy Expresswayand Harlem Avenue, Father Ed has been spent virtually all of his priestly years onthe North or Northwest sides of the city or in the North and Northwest suburbs.His closest assignment was at St. Theresa’s in Palatine and one of his sisters lives inPalatine. Two other sisters are even closer, in Mount Prospect, so family will neverbe far away.And his large “extended” family is all around him too, in virtually every parish ofthe Archdiocese, as one of his recent assignments was as the Executive Secretaryof the Priest Placement Board, the office that screens and makes recommendationsto the Cardinal for the assignment of priests in the Archdiocese. “I think I knowthem all,” he said.Our Lady of the Wayside is Father Ed’s second assignment as pastor. He comesto Arlington Heights following eight years at St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Niles. BothSt. Isaac Jogues and Wayside were appointments by Cardinal Francis George.While the path from St. Monica’s Parish in Chicago to Our Lady of the Waysidein Arlington Heights (see chronology at left) may seem typical for an Archdiocesanpriest, Father Ed is not at all typical.Not many priests, for example, earned an MBA from Northwestern University’sKellogg School of Management WHILE serving as an associate pastor at a busysuburban parish, St. Cletus in LaGrange.“If you’re going to be a pastor, it helps to be prepared to manage a largeoperation,” he said about his MBA studies. “I was anxious to do it; the NotreDame experience fired me up.” The “Notre Dame experience” was an educationalsabbatical semester at the South Bend university in 1994, following nine years ofresponsibilities for priest placement in the Archdiocese.(Over, please)