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Victoria Advocate April 9, 2003 Yorktown - The Rev. Piotr "Peter" Kaplinski, 56, of Yorktown, died Monday, April 7, 2003. He was born April 12, 1946, in Chacluszka, Poland, to the late Franciszek and Jadwiga Sztabinska Kaplinski. He was a priest for Holy Cross Catholic Church in Yorktown. Survivors: sister, Janina Wasilewska of Poland; and brother, Franciszek Kaplinski of Poland. A vigil service will be 7 p.m. tonight at Holy Cross Catholic Church. Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at the church, with Bishop David Fellhauer officiating. Lamprecht-Janssen Funeral Home, Yorktown, 361- 564-2277 Memorials: Holy Cross Parish, Dioceses of Victoria.
Early morning car wreck kills popular priest One woman injured in Cuero; Yorktown's Father Piotr dies Cuero - A rain soaked highway may have played a role in an early morning two-vehicle collision that killed a popular Yorktown priest and severely injured a Yorktown woman. The Rev. Piotr Kaplinski, who would have turned 57 Saturday, was pronounced dead at the scene on state Highway 72, just inside the Cuero city limits, at 6:45 a.m. Monday by Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Bill Robinson. No autopsy was ordered. Elizabeth Koopmann, 43, was taken by Cuero Emergency Medical Service to Citizens Medical Center in Victoria where she was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit Monday night. Kaplinski, or Father Piotr, pronounced "Peter," as he was known by his parishioners, grew up in Poland and had been in the United States about 12 years. He had been the pastor at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Yorktown for about six months, coming from St. Rose of Lima Church in Schulenburg where he served as the parochial vicar or associate pastor for about three years. Prior to that he was at Holy Family Catholic Church in Victoria from August 1996 to July 1999. Fellow pastors and parishioners remembered him as a devout man, who loved to talk and loved his history. "He was a great man, a wonderful man. We've been talking all morning about he loved life," said Doris Boldt, who works at Holy Cross part- time and is also a member of the church. "He was an outgoing person, and everybody loved him. He'd just been here about six months and during that time he made a world of friends." She noted that all day people had been calling and coming by the church to offer their condolences. "He touched a lot of people and other religions, too," Boldt said, explaining that ministers of other faiths also had offered their help, prayers and condolences. "It's sad, and yet it's a wonderful feeling that he touched so many lives." Boldt also added that Father Piotr was an intelligent man who could speak five or six different languages. Jo Ann Jaeger, the organist for Holy Cross, agreed. "Father Piotr was a very knowledgeable man. He knew so much about the history of his area of Poland and of Russia and Lithuania and all these different places, and he would tell you endless historical stories about these places," she said. "We'd always comment here that he'd tell us more than we wanted to know because he loved to talk about his country." And he loved to keep up with his native Poland, too, Jaeger said. "With the war (in Iraq), he had special television connections to Polish television. Because he was concerned about what was going on there and about his country, he made sure his dish satellite picked up Polish television. And he would watch the news from his country," she said. "And he had a connection to Polish radio, and he would keep up with talk shows at night. He would say 'oh, I was up 'til midnight listening to the Polish radio telling us about what is going on with the war.'" The priest was driving a 2000 Honda Civic west on the highway toward Yorktown, while Koopmann was heading east in a 1996 Chevrolet Suburban. The vehicles hit nearly head-on in a curve in the roadway, said Cuero Police Sgt. Santos Calderon. He said he is still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but believes that the weather may have played a role. "This morning it was wet and raining, so we are saying the conditions may have been a factor. Considering the early hour and the rain, there is a possibility it may have contributed," Calderon said. "All I can tell you is we are still investigating." Eunice Brosch, administrative assistant at St. Rose, agreed with others that Father Piotr loved his history. "He liked to talk. He loved to talk. And that was one thing he loved to talk about. One thing that he knew was his history," she said. "He could talk on and on about Poland and Russia. He knew his dates. He could remember them." The Rev. Timothy Kosler, pastor of St. Rose, said, "Father Piotr loved being around people, and people enjoyed being around him." The Rev. Greg Korenek, pastor of Holy Family, added, "He was very committed to his priesthood. He was very enthusiastic. He got excited about his work. He enjoyed talking to people." Others recalled his love of children and cheerfulness. "He was very cheerful. He was always ready to help anybody. He was very caring. He just always had a smile," said Lorene Migura, a member of Holy Cross and employee of First Capital Bank. "It's very sad. I've been working here all day, just thinking about it and not believing it. It's just hard to understand. It really is. "We are really going to miss him."
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