NORWALK—Msgr. Joseph Kohut died on August 5 at Notre Dame Convalescent Home in Norwalk. He was 98 years old.
Joseph John Kohut was born on December 12, 1918 in Peekskill N.Y. After graduating high school he was employed as a stenographer at Standard Brands, Inc., and at Texaco. This work was interrupted by his Army service in World War II in France, Germany and Austria, for which he won the Bronze Star., and by Air Force service in the Korean War.
Following his years of military service, he prepared for the priesthood at St. Jerome College, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and completed his seminary studies at St. Mary Seminary, Emmetsburg, Md. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Walter W. Curtis on May 26, 1962 in St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport.
His first assignment was at St. Joseph Parish in South Norwalk. He later served at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Shelton; St. Thomas, Fairfield; and St. Philip, Norwalk. In addition, he served as a chaplain at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport and at Stamford Hospital, and was on the faculty and served as chaplain at Central Catholic High School, now All Saints School.
He was named pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown in 1975, serving there for more than ten years before becoming pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Norwalk in 1986. He retired in 1994.
Msgr. Kohut as a member of the Priests’ Council, and was appointed a Prelate of Honor, with the title of Monsignor, by Pope John Paul II in 1991.
In his retirement, Msgr. Kohut lived at the Catherine Dennis Keefe Queen of the Clergy Residence in Stamford before moving to Notre Dame Convalescent Home.
A wake will be held for Msgr. Kohut at St. Matthew’s on Thursday, August 10, from 4-7 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated there on Friday, August 11, at 11 am, followed by a reception. Interment will take place at Assumption Cemetery, Cortland Manor, N.Y.
