Friars, family, and friends gathered in Kuczbork, Poland on May 31, 2025, for the Requiem and burial of + Friar Stanley Sobiech, OFM Conv., who died on Dec. 10, 2024, in Enfield, Conn., at the age of 91.

“His home village of Kuczbork (population 700) gave him an enormous welcome home,” said Friar James McCurry OFM Conv., former minister provincial, who delivered the homily. “After the Requiem, we carried + Friar Stanley’s cremains in a procession to the local parish cemetery, where he was interred in the tomb with his departed parents. His family expressed their profound gratitude to all the friars in the United States who lived with Friar Stanley, loved him, and cared for him until the end of his life.”

In his sermon, which he preached in Polish, Friar James said, “Father Stanislaw, in his humility, never wanted to be a guardian or a pastor. He was content to take the secondary role of a hard-working assistant.  He once described himself to me in the following words: ‘I am like a spare tire in the trunk of a car, but if I am needed, then you only must open the trunk and take me out. I never wanted to be a boss.’”

“Father Stanislaw was noted for smiling all the time. His smile bespoke the teeth which he proudly boasted as having got in Poland at a very low price. He was friendly with everyone.  If he saw anyone looking downcast, his standard word of advice was simple: ‘Smile.’”

+ Friar Stanley’s niece, Kasia (second from left) is holding the urn with his cremains. Friar James McCurry, OFM Conv., center, joined family members and the local pastor, Father Boguslaw Sabat.

Five other priests including the vicar provincial of the Warsaw Province, Friar Wiesław Chabros, OFM Conv., and four diocesan clergy concelebrated along with Friar James. The Parish Church of Saint Bartholomew was full.

Born in Kuczbork, Warsaw, Poland on July 20, 1933, he was the elder son of Tadeusz and Stefania (nee Szczepaniak) Sobiech. He had one younger brother and four sisters. Growing up in occupied Poland, Stanley worked the family farm, though considered himself to be more of a shepherd—herding cows, pigs, sheep, and lambs. This shepherd’s heart would eventually be directed to the service of the Church. Having dreamed of becoming a priest since he was a young child, Stanley entered the Novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in Niepokalanow, Poland in 1955.