Alumni Spotlight Monsignor Chuck Kosanke, Class of 1977 As a high school junior, Chuck Kosanke was the assistant editor of the yearbook, and looking forward to senior year. He would become editor - an important role in his Class of 1977. But Brother Malachy Biller, Yearbook Moderator, noticed that Chuck was often tired, and pulled him aside and said “What’s going on? You’re always sleepy.” Chuck had an easy answer, “Well, I’ve got school and studying, and yearbook. And I do a lot at St. Raymond.
10
“Brother Mal told me I had to make a choice. He said the yearbook is important and we want to have a quality product. He gave me a week to decide. I came back and said I enjoyed being involved at St. Raymond a lot more. I was training the altar servers. I was
on the Worship Commission and was the youth rep on the Parish Council.” As a senior, Chuck faced another dilemma. He liked his business classes with Mr. John Schmid. Chuck was thinking about attending Western Michigan University to study accounting and business law. But he also thought about attending Sacred Heart seminary - a thought he had had since seventh grade. So, he decided to give the seminary a year, to test it out. And the first year of seminary led to a second, and a third, and finally to ordination.
Full Circle
Now, as a parish priest, Chuck has come full circle - he is assigned to both Ste. Anne and Most Holy Trinity parishes in Detroit - two poor parishes. And his accounting
and business knowledge are put to work as he seeks funding for the various programs operated by both. And even more full circle is Chuck’s role at Most Holy Trinity, where he served while a seminarian with the legendary Msgr. Clement Kern. Kern died in 1983 while Chuck was still in the seminary, but Kern’s sister gave Chuck Kern’s clerical collar after his death. Chuck wore that collar for his 1985 ordination. Chuck returned to Sacred Heart Seminary in 1992, after his first parish assignment at Shrine of the Little Flower, in Royal Oak, and after completing a doctorate in Biblical Studies in Rome. While on the Seminary faculty, he also served as Pastor at three inner-city parishes - St. Benedict, St. Cecilia, and Church of the Madonna. In 2002, he became Pastor of Guardian Angels in Clawson, and President of Bishop Foley High School. During his time at Guardian Angels, he was named a Monsignor by Pope Benedict in 2005. But a “simple” parish life was not in the cards. Cardinal Maida appointed Msgr. Chuck as Rector of Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary (the National Polish Seminary), in Orchard Lake, MI, in 2005, a post he held for six years. During this time,
