Br. Stanislaus Sobczyk

Brother Stanislaus Sobczyk, called “Johnny Boy” by his family, was proud to come from simple beginnings in Omaha, Nebraska.   As a child, he spent months in an iron lung due to polio influencing the type of activities he avoided and engaged in throughout the rest of his life.

Stan was a master teacher making geography come alive, arms extended painting purple mountain majesties and ocean depths not just with words but with stories, antics and verve.  He directed choirs in those earlier days, played the accordion, and absolutely loved to dance.  More than a few schools remember him for instituting “Mom Proms” in their all boy high schools.

In the second half of his career Brother Stan moved to higher education after earning his Ed.D. at the University of San Francisco.  Once spending time in California, he knew he had found a new home all the while remaining a member of the (old St. Louis,) Midwest District throughout his life.  He never flinched when asked to serve as administrator of a number of schools.

His many friends knew him for his hospitality, hosting and touring whatever city he might be living in at the time, especially San Francisco.  A well-known “foodie” Stan always preferred “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” to well healed establishments.

Brother Stan loved to cook, entertain and serve others. However, the last decade of his life, riddled with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, slowly took away his breath. He died in the infirmary at Napa, California outliving his prognosis by a number of years.